Shepard Fairey was born in Charleston, South Carolina and earned his BFA from Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) in 1992. While studying Illustration at RISD, Fairey created the “Andre the Giant has a Posse” sticker (eventually evolving into a close-up of Andre’s face and the word “OBEY”). The sticker grew in popularity, especially among the skater crowd, and began popping up almost everywhere. Arguably more of a social experiment than anything else, Fairey explained that the sticker has no meaning and exists only to elicit a reaction in people. “Because OBEY has no actual meaning, the various reactions and interpretations of those who view it reflect their personality and the nature of their sensibilities,” Shepard wrote. Gaining a name for himself in street art, Fairey didn’t break into the mainstream consciousness until President Barack Obama’s campaign in 2008. Fairey designed Obama’s “Hope” campaign poster, and his art became recognizable to a broad audience almost overnight. Three decades into his career, Fairey is still making street art but also has a very long list of museum and gallery exhibitions to his credit.

Questions for Shepard

1. Can you tell us about a time you got a big "break" in your career, which led to more people discovering your art?

    

   There have been no big breaks for most of my career. My progression was gradual based on small opportunities and bits of exposure that gradually led me to a bigger audience and greater reach. The moment closest to a big break would be when my Obama "Hope" poster went viral quickly in 2008. I was well-known as an artist in street art and graphic art circles, but the "Hope" poster exposed my work to a larger and more mainstream audience. 

    

2. Why do you create street art?

    

   I initially created street art because it was one of the only ways I could put my art in front of the public. No galleries were asking me to do shows, and I felt the audience for galleries was too narrow anyway. Even though I now have many gallery and museum opportunities, I still create street art because I believe art should be as accessible as possible and woven into the places where people live their daily lives. 

    

3. You've said, "we're all shaped by the media we consume." With the quantity and variety of media being so much more accessible now, what guidance would you give young people about the media they choose to consume?

    

   We are moving away from a universal, collective media experience as the number of media producers multiplies based on democratizing technology. Unfortunately, we don't all have the same standards or use the same sources, so we may not share the same version of reality. We now have many more options for media we can consume, which has advantages and disadvantages. Much of the media is not vetted, so we need to exercise discretion about what we consume to ensure it's factual. The guidance I would give is to make sure what you consume is credible. Try to avoid the bias to curate your own reality by only consuming sources that support how you feel. We all have the potential of getting trapped in echo chambers because of the way the algorithms understand our psychology and supply us with what we want, not what we need. 
   
   

4. What did you study in art school? How did your studies inform the art you would eventually create? If you could go back to art school today, what would you study?
   
   

I majored in illustration because I liked to draw and paint, but also because it was the most flexible major for taking classes in other areas, such as printmaking, photography, and graphic design. Working in all of those areas informed the evolution of my work, especially screen-printing, because it allowed me to synthesize all of those different approaches into cohesive prints based on the nature of the medium. Screen printing helped me to become a better illustrator, photographer, and designer because I needed to make each of those distinct approaches work with the aesthetics of screen printing. Beyond the technical, art school helped me expand my understanding of how art could address social issues. I was surrounded by people from all over the world in art school and teachers with years of experience and varying approaches that helped me understand how art could be applied beyond what I grew up with in provincial Charleston, South Carolina.  [If I went back to school today], I would take a similar approach, but I would have embraced digital tools more quickly than I did from '88-'92. At the time, I saw some of the aesthetics of computer graphics as too digital-looking, which was short-sighted because they progressed very quickly. Learning to use the computer five years after I graduated from college dramatically accelerated my processes as a graphic designer and printmaker. I wish I had seen that potential sooner. 

 

5. Many CAM students would like to ask you about using art to express dissent and protest. After all these years, why do you continue to use art this way?  
   
   

Art can powerfully comment on any aspect of the human experience. I care about my own experiences and the experiences of others, so it makes perfect sense for me to use my art for protest and dissent, but also to point to philosophical aspirations and positive solutions for problems, not just to point to the problems themselves. It is fascinating and frustrating that almost every other creative medium, be it music, film, or literature, seems more comfortable addressing social concerns than visual art seems to be. Don't be afraid; use your voice and get involved.