Shepard Fairey was born in Charleston, SC, and received his bachelor of fine arts degree (BFA) in illustration at the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, R.I. As a student at the school, Fairey created the hugely popular Andre the Giant Has a Posse sticker, which transformed into the OBEY GIANT art campaign. Over time, his imagery has changed the way people see art and the urban landscape. His work has evolved into an acclaimed body of art that includes the 2008 Hope portrait of Barack Obama, which can be found in the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery.
Fairey's 25-year career started in 1989 with his sticker campaign. In addition to his guerrilla street-art presence, the artist has executed more than 50 large-scale painted public murals around the world as of 2015. His works are in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery, the Boston Institute of Contemporary Art, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and many others.
Last September, Fairey opened his first painting show in New York since 2010 at the Jacob Lewis Gallery. The exhibition, entitled "On Our Hands," was the gallery's inaugural exhibition of the artist's work as his representing gallery in New York. The show coincided with the artist's most recent monograph release, Covert to Overt (Rizzoli).
Debuting this summer, American Civics is the first-ever collaboration between Fairey and the estate of legendary photographer Jim Marshall. Fairey interprets Marshall's iconic photography with new works vividly depicting the humanity behind some of America's enduring social justice issues.
For more information, visit www.OBEYGIANT.com
