Shepard Fairey
Fairey created the "André the Giant Has a Posse" sticker campaign in 1989, while attending the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). This later evolved into the "Obey Giant" campaign, which has grown via an international network of collaborators replicating Fairey's original designs. In a manifesto he wrote in 1990, and since posted on his website, he links his work with Heidegger's concept of phenomenology. His "Obey" Campaign draws from the John Carpenter movie "They Live" which starred pro wrestler Rowdy Piper, taking a number of its slogans, including the "Obey" slogan, as well as the "This is Your God" slogan. Fairy has also spun off the OBEY clothing line from the original sticker campaign. He also uses the slogan "The Medium is the Message" borrowed from Marshall McLuhan.
Fairey graduated from RISD in 1992 with a Bachelor of Arts in illustration. After graduation, he founded a small printing business in Providence, RI called Alternate Graphics, specializing in t-shirt and sticker silk-screens, which afforded Fairey the ability to continue pursuing his own artwork. While residing in Providence in 1994, Fairey met American filmmaker Helen Stickler, who had also attended Rhode Island School of Design and graduated with a film degree. The following spring, Stickler completed a short documentary film about Shepard and his work, titled "Andre the Giant has a Posse." The film premiered in the 1995 New York Underground Film Festival, and went on to play at the 1997 Sundance Film Festival. It has been seen in more than 70 festivals and museums internationally.
Fairey was a founding partner along with Dave Kinsey and Phillip DeWolff of the design studio BLK/MRKT Inc. from 1997-2003, which specialized, in guerilla marketing, and "the development of high-impact marketing campaigns." Clients included Pepsi, Hasbro and Netscape.
In 2003 he founded the Studio Number One design agency. The agency produced the cover work for the Black Eyed Pea’s album Monkey Business and the poster for the film Walk the Line. Fairey has also designed the covers for The Smashing Pumpkins' album Zeitgeist, Flogging Molly's CD/DVD Whiskey on a Sunday, and the Led Zeppelin compilation Mothership.
His book, "Supply and Demand: The Art of Shepard Fairey," was released in July 2006.
Fairey currently resides in Los Angeles, California, with his wife Amanda and daughters Vivienne and Madeline. Fairey created a series of posters supporting Barack Obama's candidacy for President in 2008. He sits on the advisory board of Reaching to Embrace the Arts, a not-for-profit organization that provides art supplies to disadvantaged schools and students.
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