World Famous Comics: Obey: Supply & Demand : The Art of Shepard Fairey
Obey: Supply & Demand : The Art of Shepard Fairey
By: Shepard Fairey Publisher: Gingko Press Average Rating: Binding: Hardcover Label: Gingko Press Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 349 Publication Date: July 01, 2006
Book Description: Supply and Demand is the book that finally does justice to Shepard Fairey's entire body of work, a massive retrospective covering 17 Years of this groundbreaking artist's prodigious output. Through the lens of esteemed writers and critics such as Carlo McCormick, Steven Heller and Roger Gastman, Fairey's work is seen for all its depth and placed in context as art, design, social experiment and "getting over". This massive book pulls no punches and all areas of the enigmatic artist's work, travels and travails are illuminated; from exhibitions, posters, flyers, silkscreens and stickers to high altitude pursuits, citations and police beatings, it's all documented in a museum quality layout and binding. The evidence is in, and it's clear that Shepard Fairey is not one to rest on his laurels, the work must go on. For both long time fans wanting the complete collection and those just curious to know what this OBEY business is all about Supply and Demand is the answer.
Damaged The book arrived with a damaged cover. The top-left corner was pierced with something. We're trying to return it.
An american art dream Dear friends: This book shows a few things: how the medium is the message, how Shepard Fairey became one of the greatest american propaganda designers and how he represents an american art dream. Very didactic, inspiring, reflexive and extremely well edited book.
100% Recomended!!!
All the best from Barcelona!!
THIS BOOK IS A JOKE. In response to Fairey's solo exhibition, Imperfect Union, (December, 2007) at the Merry Karnowski Gallery in Los Angeles, California, Mark Vallen, renowned artist, activist, illustrator and curator criticizes Fairey's work and career as an artist, in a essay published on his Art for a Change web site. Vallen expresses his outrage at how Fairey has made a career "out of the consistent, secretive and wholesale copying of other people's artworks" and describes why, in his opinion, "it should make obvious that anyone so ill-informed should not be in the vanguard of today's political art". He identifies Fairey's work as "machine art that any second-rate art student could produce" by picking apart Fairey's heavy usage of "silly portraits of a dead wrestling champion" as well as "absurdist propaganda". Vallen acuses Fairey of "toying with the veneer of radical politics" when "his views are hollow and non-committal". Vallen also explains how Fairey is "deceiving people by pawning off counterfeit works as original creations" with numerous examples of original pieces shown side by side with Fairey's "lucrative OBEY fashion line" version. In the example of the White Panther logo, Vallen emphasizes that by "exploiting the panther logo for profit by printing it on boutique clothing, Fairey has accelerated the dehistoricization and commodification of American history", and in his opinion, "has forfeited his ability to speak as a dissident". He states that "Fairey is guilty of utilizing historic images simply because he "likes" them, and not because he has any grasp of their significance as objects of art or history". Vallen further supports that "Fairey simply filches artworks and hopes that no one notices" and that "these days any amateur with a minimally written crackpot manifesto can make waves in the world of art". If Fairey has "developed a profitable livelihood exclusively based on pilfering the artworks of others", Vallen ultimately asks "can Shepard Fairey honestly be described as an artist who can critically assess the unholy union of government and big business, or offer comments on the underpinnings of the capitalist machine?". Koloman Moser, Ralph "Bingo" Chaplin, Pirkle Jones, Rupert Garcia, Rene Mederos, Félix Beltrán and Gary Grimshaw are a few of the plagiarized artists that are mentioned in Vallen's critique.
Please see these links:
http://www.art-for-a-change.com/Obey/index.htm
http://www.brghtnghts.com/blog/?p=150
A big, handsome book that's a must own for any Shepard Fairey fan. I had always been a fan of the Rodchenko propaganda art from Russia's early Communist era. There was always something that just appealed to me, I recently re-discovered Shepard Fairey's work and began collecting up the pieces I liked most. Shepard Fairey's work is dark, but inspiring; revolutionary, but also authoritarian. This book is a chronicle of Fairey's evolution from sticker/t-shirt bootlegging teen to American Pop-Art icon, even if he might never want to characterize himself that way. The book is hefty and handsome bound in red cloth with gold gilt colored text and the "Supply and Demand" print image on the cover. It is full of Fairey's work and the story behind some of the street art he is famous for. There's also a glimpse into the philosophy of street artists, who separate themselves from what most people think of as simply vandals. Fairey's run-ins with local police reveal much of the anti-establishment inspirations in his work. His anti-corporation campaigns and collaborations with musicians also inspire some of his best works. A great book for the Shepard Fairey fan featuring much of his work from 1989 to 2005. REVIEW EVERY BOOK YOU READ!
Obey Sheppard Fairey An impressive collection of works through his personal timeline. Beautifully bound, loving attention put to every part of the book. The printing is top-notch, a quality item all the way. There is a wonderful insight to the OBEY project, André the Giant, and many of the poster and print runs he's produced.
It sits proudly on my coffee table, bedside table, in my art studio.
Don't think, just spend the bucks, you'll be glad you did!
Anything Goes Trivia
Megaton Man
Tony's Online Tips
Trevor
