Shepard Fairey

Shepard Fairey is a California-based artist and guerrilla marketer, best known for the Obey campaign using the image of Andre the Giant and the pop-art poster for the Barack Obama Hope campaign.

On July 10, 2009, Fairey was sentenced to two years of probation after pleading guilty to three of the 11 vandalism charges against him in a Boston court. In the plea deal, Fairey was also ordered to pay $2,000 in order to help pay for the costs of graffiti removal.http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/2009/07/shepard-fairey-sentenced-to-two-years-probation-in-massachusetts.html

Fairey was arrested on the night of February 6, 2009, as he was headed to Boston's Institute of Contemporary Art to a party that would kick off his first solo exhibition. The police were acting on two warrants issued against Fairey on January 24, 2009, on misdemeanor charges for drawing graffiti on two properties in the Boston area. He was released a few hours later.Boston Herald: Shepard Fairey, of Obama poster fame, arrested in Boston (February 7, 2009)

Fairey's first images of presidential candidate Barack Obama were created and published in a poster format and pasted on walls in Los Angeles and San Francisco in support of the Obama campaign. He was an early supporter of Obama, and let them know that he wanted to help. After they agreed one week before Super Tuesday, Fairey cranked out a poster in a week.Washington Post: Obama's On-the-Wall Endorsement (May 18, 2008) NPR: What's with That Obama Poster? (April 7, 2008)

Fairey posted them around Los Angeles and made the images free for downloading from the Internet. He sold stickers and posters on the Internet, and, although he couldn't legally donate more money to the Obama campaign, instead made and spread more images in support of the campaign.NPR: What's with That Obama Poster? (April 7, 2008)

The poster was reproduced on the cover of Time magazine and then turned into badges and t-shirts embellished with the word "Hope". Those items were produced and sold by the Obama campaign.Washington Post: Obama's On-the-Wall Endorsement (May 18, 2008) NPR: What's with That Obama Poster? (April 7, 2008)

Fairey himself wasn't approached or contracted by the Obama campaign to create the image; but he did base the work on a news image made by Reuters photographer Jim Young. His adaptation of the photograph—Fairey flipped and vectorized the image; and it is debatable whether he violated Young's copyright.Jason Crawford: OBEY’s Shepard Fairey: hope poster belongs to everyone (January 16, 2009) Young has said he is pleased that his image was used.The Daily Beast: Obama Photo Mystery Solved! (January 19, 2009)

In January, 2009, Fairey admitted that the Hope poster was in fact based an Associated Press photo by Mannie Garcia. AP claims that it owns the copyright to the image, and wants credit and compensation for its use.Boston Globe: New ICA exhibit includes a controversial image (February 7, 2009)

Earlier in 2008, Fairey's Giant poster, which features black and white images of Andre the Giant, was altered by Austin artist Baxter Orr to create a new piece of art. Orr's image covers the Giant face and named the piece "Protect Yourself". In April 2008, Fairey sent a cease and desist order against Baxter.Austin Chronicle: Artist Cage Match: Fairey vs. Orr (May 16, 2008)

"I have always made art about people empowering themselves and saying that you don't have to have corporate backing or funding or be somebody that, you know, should be powerful in society to do something that makes a difference. And, you know, here we go, that's the perfect example of something that was created very humbly having made a powerful journey."Shepard FaireyTime: Person of the Year Videos Icon-maker Shepard Fairey (Time: 4:17)