Victory is Ours!!!!!
Shepard Fairey - Obama
Since long ago when I saw Obey stickers of “André the Giant Has a Posse”, plastered on surfaces in cities across the U.S., I’ve been fascinated by the art created by Shepard Fairey. His sticker campaign paved the way for what was to come for this hugely talented artist. Fairey is widely known for his 2004 “anti-war, anti-Bush” posters, and more recently, his series of powerful graphic posters supporting Barack Obama’s candidacy for President in 2008. Since Obama’s victorious win, I’ve been elated beyond words, as so many of us have. It’s an incredible time in our lives, a time when our newly elected leader is asking us to also be the change that the United States so greatly needs. Lets not forget, one man is not going to change our country, rather, the people and our leaders, working together in unity, can create change. United we stand, divided we fall. Here’s to new, exciting beginnings!!
In Obama’s acceptance speech, he quoted some words from one of the greatest Presidents, Abraham Lincoln.
“We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.”
– Abraham Lincoln, March 4, 1861 – Lincoln’s First Inaugural Address
Fairey is the wrong person to associate with his subject if you like him, in this case the incumbent Prez. I can’t think of a better example of the oft-abused phrase “sellout” than ol’ Shep, and I only use the term due to the quasi-street beginnings of his memetic careeer. There’s something that doesn’t jibe about a designer that wants both to get up and have his shit sold en masse to hypebeasts, scenesters and yoga/karate/salad joints, further confused by a sickeningly omnipresent political agenda. It was ironic when deceased Andre’s imaginary posse threatened phonepoles in LA; it’s just sad when Che and Obama and Mao make their way onto $25 Beefy-Ts.
Comment by Restroom — November 6, 2008 @ 10:49 pm
I think it’s sad when ppl forget that there is the message of hope and change that resonates with so many people; that’s why this movement has held so strongly with people and that’s why its soaked up from the grassroots to the mainstream. There is nothing wrong with that. I don’t think it’s fair to label someone a sell-out just because he/she has broken through the underground scene. Just because others are making a profit off the popularity of the subject does not mean the core of what artists like Fairey were inspired by is any less meaningful.
We live in a capitalist society and figures in history of such magnitude will always be made an icon from which people will make profits. The artists’ role is not focused on the political or economic end. The artists provides a means by which people can identify, analyze, and criticize the subject; a unique perspective that allows one to view the ordinary through different, not so ordinary lenses.
I applaude Fairey’s contribution to the Obama campaign. It has brought a real breath of fresh air to the often dull and superficial feel to popular culture today. I am so excited to live in this new age. Cheers to change!
Comment by Ruthie — November 9, 2008 @ 5:00 pm