Shepard Fairey is an American graphic artist and social activist. Part of the Street Art movement, with Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat as his predecessors, Fairey communicates his brand of social and political critique via murals and public spaces. His iconic Hope (2008) portrait for then-presidential candidate Barack Obama is perhaps his most well-known work, in addition to his Obey (1992) campaign, which started while Fairey was enrolled at the Rhode Island School of Design. Born Frank Shepard Fairey on February 15, 1970 in Charleston, SC, the artist borrows from graphic styles of the 20th century, blurring the boundary between high and commercial art through type and image. His work is included in the collections of the Smithsonian, Washington D.C., the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. He currently lives and works in Los Angeles, CA.
~ artnet
