Artwork information

Category

Print

Technique

Letterpress on cream cotton paper

Date

2020

Dimensions

48.3 cm x 35.6 cm

Signature

Signed

Proof(s) of authenticity

Work sold with a certificate of authenticity.

State of conservation

Very good

Framing

No

Location

Rhône-Alpes, France

Description

14.5 x 19 inches. Letterpress on cream cotton paper with hand-deckled edges. Original photo by Hugh Holland. Signed by Shepard Fairey and Hugh Holland. Numbered edition of 115.

"Skateboarding saved my life! As both an activity and culture, skateboarding blew the doors open for me to see how creativity, fearlessness, independence, and style could let me paint my own story. To paraphrase Charles Bukowski, everything, worth saying or doing, dull or dangerous, is better with style. I learned the importance of style from skateboarding but I apply style to my art and pretty much anything else I can. My friend Blaize Blouin, the only pro skater from Charleston, S.C., where I grew up, used to say “trendy tricks come and go, but the need for style is constant”. When I picked up Hugh Holland’s Silver Skate 70’s book I was enthralled by all of the photos, but especially gripped by the shot of an unknown kid doing a stylish backside carve at the Kenter Canyon School banks in 1976. That backside carve photo viscerally reminded me what the essence of style in skateboarding looks like (and feels like)." Shepard Fairey

Provenance

Obey Studio

The artist

Painter
Drawer

Shepard Fairey (OBEY)

Famous artistFamous artist
Painter
Drawer
Born in 1970
United States

Bio

Shepard Fairey, known as Obey, was born on February 15, 1970 in Charleston in the United States.

From an early age, he has been passionate about drawing. He is also passionate about skateboarding. At the age of 14, he drew images for t-shirts and skateboards.

Obey is very influenced by Andy Warhol and Alexander Rodchenko. At the end of the 80s, he invented the famous Obey symbol thanks to a poster campaign with a bunch of friends.

His art became world famous thanks to his Hope poster which became Barack Obama's campaign poster in 2008. The artist is now considered one of the pillars of international street art.

5 things to know about Shepard Fairey

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