Shepard Fairey Analysis

Shepard Fairey is a representative of the Los Angeles street art. He has become famous for his "Hope" poster of Barack Obama (Ng, 2015) that has found recognition to a large extent among people. Through his art, Fairey speaks out against the power abuse and militarism, supports people of color and women seeking for equity. The works by a street artist have gained much public interest while the powerful visual rhetoric became a reason for interest of younger generation art critics and collectors. Since “many street artists have police records relating to vandalism and the destruction of property”, the problems that Fairey has faced recently with regards to vandalism in Detroit do not come as a surprise (Ng, 2015, Para. 8). However, unlike many

This piece of art was painted in 2014 and belongs to the category of contemporary urban/street art as well as the previous one. The series of art pieces actually reflects the critical perception of the world that the author has himself. The problem of people blindly obeying to orders and not questioning what is happening is actual nowadays, and the artist makes an attempt to draw attention to it through his work. In the form similar to propaganda poster, the artist reflects on social problems of lack of individualism and the widely common tendency to follow the prescriptions of authority without even questioning the sense of one’s actions. Similar to the first poster, this piece of art has somewhat anti-governmental meaning. The use of black and yellowish colors makes the painting look vintage and outdated. However, the problem of money cult as well as lack of interest and individualism that is under consideration tends to be modern and

This artwork also belongs to the contemporary art movement in a form of graffiti and the direction of urban/street art. The painting also has a classic view of propaganda and the soviet style. It does not only look similar to many other works of the author, but also reflects the similar idea. The idea is implied in the slogan which states “Obey”. The contrasting red and black colors are used in this piece of art as in other works by the artist. As the author of this work stated himself, the piece of art does not have meaning, but it aims at making people react and seek for their own understanding of the painting (Hersh, 1999). However, being produced within the campaign against consumerism, the artwork tends to reveal the critics of social trends and perception of advertising bombarding the