Shepard Fairey, Obey in art, was born in 1970 in Charleston, South Carolina, and he is nowadays one of the most popular street artists. The punk and skater subculture characterized his youth and it will be forever impressed in his works from the first posters to worldwide success. The meaning of his name is an ironic reference to the control and homologation in contemporary society, features that he will always try to criticize with his works.
With the representation of the well known wrestler Andrè The Giant, in 1989 comes the first success of the street artist. For the occasion the walls of Providence were his first canvas, covered with stickers depicting the wrestler’s stylized face. It was a real manifesto, which became the symbol of the artist and the fashion brand founded by Shepard Fairey himself, with, in the logo, the face of André The Giant. Obey Clothing thus allowed the street artist to spread his message to the general public, going beyond the traditional boundaries of the artistic medium.
Between the international collaborations, Obey redesigned the mascot red t-rex of the Mozilla Foundation (formerly Netscape Communications Corporation), the non-profit organization that owns the famous internet browser.
Socially committed, Obey’s art does not fail to take political positions: in 2008 the artist gives shape to Hope, a color poster of Barack Obama’s face created with the iconic stencil. Never made official by the politician’s electoral committee, after his victory the work received a letter of gratitude from Obama himself for the creative contribution and participation, increasing the success of Obey, artist who has now become an icon of street art.
