Having been lucky enough to see Facing The Giant in London I thought it would be good to look at the other stops on the Obey Giant World Tour. Usually travelling shows like this are of the restrospective kind and are reserved for the most revered of artists with 6 month stints at say the Tate London or the Barbican before moving on to the next big space in Europe. But as he's proved time and again, Shepard Fairey likes to do things his own way and much like his Andre the Giant has a posse sticker has morphed and shaped popular culture, so too his work in the gallery is pushing the boundaries of what can be achieved.
It was only after seeing the size of his London show that the scale and magnitude of such an undertaking hit me. If you haven't already check out my post about Facing The Giant here. Shepard has been on a nonstop mission since 1989 to get his stickers and art work in as many places as possible. A mission that links to the graffiti kings and their quest for all city fame, Shepard upped the stakes first with all state coverage then all country fame before moving on to world domination. I think much of that fame is actually a by product of his incredible work ethic but it's matched by his incredible social awareness of the numerous issues that we're facing, from global greed and politics to the climate crisis. Indeed with every step up on the fame ladder, Shepard has used his platform to raise awareness and to address the issues of the day. He want's everyone to be able to access his message and his art with print editions for $50 (the cost of a round of beers in London) along with more expensive hand made editions. There's not many artists selling work for thousands of pounds but are also still doing affordable editions.
But much as Shepard has pushed his work on the street, expanding his message and the means to share it, so too he's used 2019 to push his gallery work. Adopting the same principles he applies to the street, Shepard has managed to see his work travel further than expected with 9 stops on the tour, no small feat considering the scale of the show with large format original prints along with a career spanning host of smaller works. Indeed the show has morphed and changed along the way with even newer works being added to the final leg of the tour. It's cool to think of the exhibition not being a static presentation of work but being adapted and changed, much as work does on the streets. But along with the logistics of each gallery show Shepard has also produced a series of new murals in each city that trace the evolution of Obey message and tackle some of the big issues of 2019. The idea of creating a new mural on each stop, 8 cities (I think they have missed out Seoul) with 8 murals is again no small undertaking but Shepard has actually created more murals with 3 in London alone, along with new murals created outwith the world tour. He works with an amazing team including Jonathon Furlong who documents many of the works (check out his photos below) but is always seen right in the thick of the production. The scale, the message and the beauty of these new murals is why Shepard is one of the most important and iconic artists of our time and has set a blueprint for so many socially engaged artists!
I could go on all day about Obey and Shepard but thankfully he's produced a series of videos that look at his 30 year career so why not tune in below and check out the murals created for 3 Decades of Dissent across the globe below the videos.
I could go on all day about Obey and Shepard but thankfully he's produced a series of videos that look at his 30 year career so why not tune in below and check out the murals created for 3 Decades of Dissent across the globe below the videos.
