Shepard Fairey

Shepard Fairey is an American graphic designer and social activist. He belongs to the street art movement and is in the tradition of Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat. Fairey exercises social and political criticism through mural painting in public space. The iconic portrait Hope (2008) for the then presidential candidate Barack Obama is perhaps his most famous work. Fairey also caused a stir with the sticker campaign Obey (1992), which he initiated as a student of the Rhode Island School of Design.

Born on the 15th February 1970 under the name Frank Shepard Fairey in Charleston/South Carolina, the artist uses the graphic stylistic means of the 20th century. In his early years, the artist began to draw his pictures on T-shirts and skateboards as a young man and became more and more interested in art. Fairey's father is a doctor and his mother is a realtor. The artist attended the Idyllwild Arts Academy in Palm Springs, USA and graduated here in 1988. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, USA in 1992.

In his early years, the artist worked in a skateboard store. This part-time job was perfect for Fairey's burgeoning interest in street culture and graffiti. During this time, the artist was also interested in punk music. When Fairey demonstrated the production of stencils to a friend, he used a simple picture of a newspaper advertisement by the French wrestler André the Giant. Shortly afterwards, Fairey used this template to create graffiti with it. Two works known from Fairey are Obey (1992) and Hope (2008). Hope is an iconic image of American President Barack Obama, which Fairey designed during the American presidential campaign in 2008.

In his studio work, Shepard Fairey skillfully blends stencils, photographs, collages and paint, while staying true to the reduced color palette of his street pieces. Rarely incorporating more than three colors, it is Fairey's signature red that predominantly features in his work.

The artist's first solo museum show took place at the renowned Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston (2009), and his work has been exhibited in galleries and museums around the world. Despite the critical acclaim from the institutional art world, Fairey remains true to his roots and regularly works on street pieces around the globe.

EXHIBITIONS:

2016

Earth Crisis, Gallery Itinerrance, Paris, France

2015

Earth Crisis, Eiffel Tower, Paris, France

On Our Hands, Jacob Lewis Gallery, New York, NY, USA

Your Eyes Here, CAC Málaga Museum, Malaga, Spain

Printed Matters & Public Matter Show: Detroit, Library Street Collective, Detroit, Michigan, USA

Shepard Fairey: Harmony & Discord, Pace Prints, New York, NY, USA

2014

50 Shades of Black, Subliminal Projects, Los Angeles, CA, USA

Power & Glory, Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art, Charleston, SC, USA

2013

Cash, Cans & Candy, Gallery Hilger NEXT, Vienna, Austria

20 Horse Years: The Horse Hospital, London, England

Urban Art Biennial 2013 - Urban Art Biennial, Völklingen, Germany

At home I'm a tourist, Colección de Selim Varol - Centro de Arte Contemporáneo Málaga, Spain

2012 Sound & Vision, StolenSpace Gallery, London, England

Early Works, Lust Gallery, Vienna, Austria

a print selection, Galerie Kasten, Mannheim, Germany

2011

Your Ad Here, V1 Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark

Screenprints, Belgrave Gallery, St Ives, England

2010

May Day, Deitch Projects, New York, NY, USA (solo exhibition)

Supply and Demand: 20 Year Retrospective, CAC Cincinnati, Ohio; traveled to the Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

2009

Supply and Demand: 20 Year Retrospective, Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, MA

A New Mural Project, Country Club / Iconoclast Editions, Ohio, USA

2008 Duality of Humanity, White Walls, San Francisco, CA, USA

Imperfect Union, Merry Karnowsky Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

White Walls Gallery, San Francisco, CA (solo exhibition)

2007

E Pluribus Venom, Jonathan LeVine Gallery, New York, NY, USA (solo exhibition)

Nineteeneightyfouria, StolenSpace Gallery, London, England (solo exhibition)

Merry Karnowsky Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, USA (solo exhibition)

2006

Wax Poetics Gallery, Burbank, CA, USA (solo exhibition)

White Walls Gallery, San Francisco, CA, USA (solo exhibition)

Maxalot Gallery, Barcelona, Spain (solo exhibition)

Gallery Magda Danysz, Paris, France (solo exhibition)

OXOP Gallery, Minneapolis, MN, United States of America

New Art Center, Newtonville, MA, USA

Galerie de Jour Agnès B, Paris, France

2005

Hillwood Art Museum, Brookville, NY, United States of America

Voice 1156 Gallery, San Diego, CA, United States of America

P4 Space, Milan, Italy

Copro Nason Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, United States of America

Beautiful Losers, Costa Mesa, CA, United States of America

Misanthropy Gallery, Vancouver, Canada

Galerie de Jour Agnes B, Paris, France

EXIT Gallery, Hong Kong, China (solo exhibition)

DC Gallery, Denver, CO, USA (solo exhibition)

Hard Rock Café Gallery, Orlando, FL, USA (solo exhibition)

Toyroom Gallery, Sacramento, CA, USA (solo exhibition)

OX-OP Gallery, Minneapolis, MN, USA (solo exhibition)

Voice 1156 Gallery, San Diego, CA (solo exhibition)

Merry Karnowsky Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, USA (solo exhibition)

Black Floor Gallery, Philadelphia, PA, USA (solo exhibition)

Gallery Magda Danysz, Paris, France

Dyezu Experiment, Tokyo, Japan

Mendenhall Sobieski Gallery, Pasadena, CA, United States of America

DC Gallery, Denver, CO, United States of America

V1 Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark

Project Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, United States of America

Track 16 Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, United States of America

2004

Kerkchof Gallery, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA (solo exhibition)

The Ad Shop, Brussels, Belgium (solo exhibition)

Toy Room Gallery, Sacramento, CA, USA (solo exhibition)

V1 Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark (solo exhibition)

Kantor Gallery Window, New York, NY, USA (solo exhibition)

Shooting Gallery, San Francisco, CA, USA (solo exhibition)

Gallery Katz, Boston, MA, USA (solo exhibition)

Martin Mcintosh Outer Gallery, Melbourne, Australia (solo exhibition)

Merry Karnowsky Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, USA (solo exhibition)

Paragraph Gallery, Kansas City, MO, USA (solo exhibition)

Paul Rodgers 9W Gallery, New York, NY, United States of America

Beautiful Losers, CAC, Cincinnati, OH, United States of America

Ducky Waddles Emporium, Encinitas, CA, United States of America

Streetwise 3, Santa Monica, CA, United States of America

Beautiful Losers, Yerba Buena, San Francisco, CA, United States of America

QEEROPHONIC, Subliminal Projects, Los Angeles, CA, United States of America

Carlos Irizarry Gallery, San Juan, Puerto Rico

OBJEX Artspace, Miami, FL, United States of America

2003

La Base, Paris, France (solo exhibition)

Perhelion Arts, Phoenix, AZ, USA (solo exhibition)

SIXSPACE, Los Angeles, CA, USA (solo exhibition)

CPOP, Detroit, MI, USA (solo exhibition)

Think Tank, CO, USA (solo exhibition)

RED FIVE, San Francisco, CA, USA (solo exhibition)

Kantor Gallery Window, New York, NY, USA (solo exhibition)

Milk, San Francisco, CA, USA (solo exhibition)

Session the Bowl, Deitch Projects, New York, NY, USA

Quite Riot, Long Beach, CA, United States of America

Design Is Kinky Conference, Sydney, Australia

Back Jumps Exhibition, Berlin, Germany

2002

Emporium Gallery, Encinitas, CA, USA (solo exhibition)

1300 Gallery, Cleveland, OH, USA (solo exhibition)

Boston Museum, Boston, MA, USA (solo exhibition)

Dept/Fumiya Gallery, Tokyo, Japan (solo exhibition)

Max Fish, New York, NY, United States of America

Merry Karnowski Gallery, Hollywood, CA, United States of America

Day by Day Gallery, Richmond, VA, USA

The Blue Cube, Columbus, OH, United States of America

Seven Degrees Gallery, Laguna Beach, CA, United States of America

Apart Gallery, London, UK

Modart, CA, USA

2001

Hallsey Gallery, College of Charleston, SC, USA (solo exhibition)

Tin Man Alley Gallery, New Hope, PA, USA (solo exhibition)

CPOP Gallery, Detroit, MI, United States of America

Levi's Vortex Gallery

Bush Gallery, Providence, RI

MOCA DC, Washington, DC, United States of America

2000

Capsule, Birmingham, England (solo exhibition)