As a student who is not majoring in art, but instead
appreciates it, I understand both views to the poster controversy of Shephard
Fairey's "Hope". Steven Heller makes a good arguing point that art is
being made new all the time, giving no one the rights or credit when an image
is taken as "source imagery". I believe that Fairey's work does an
amazing job of turning known images from the past into iconic modern art. Andre
the Giant stickers were first created as a sticker in 1989, since then it has
become a famous symbol (Dooley 223). It has been seen around the world from Russia , Singapore ,
and Paris
(Dooley 224). One of the strong indications that shows that the
"Obey" posters have gone viral is the sightings of them in movies
including: Gone in Sixty Seconds, The Devil's Own, 8 am, and Batman Forever
(Dooley 225). As shown below is the most famous of Andre the Giant poster's, "Andre the Giant has a Posse".
Shepard Fairey’s “Andre the Giant has a Posse” image from Obey: Supply & Demand. Print. 25 January 2014.
One of Fairey's most famous pieces of work is
"Obey" using Andre the Giant. Fairey uses Andre as someone who is
recognized by the common, working class, which is Fairey's audience. Many
people like Mark Vallen, believed Fairey stole images from the 1920's and
1960's propaganda in Russia
and China .
Steven Heller even says, "...I admit that on occasion he has come close to
crossing the line from acceptable borrowing into murky infringement
territory" (Heller 1). One of the famous comparisons of Fairey almost
crossing the line is between John Van Hamersveld's poster of Jimi Hendrix, and
Fairey's "Andre Hendrix Print," as seen below.
Right: Shepard Fairey’s “Andre Hendrix Print.” image from NYtimes.com. Web. 25 January 2014.
You can see how many comparisons there are between the two
images, but one of the things I notice is how Fairey's image seems to make fun
of Hamersveld's. In Hamersveld's you have this powerful image, the strong gaze
of Jimi Hendrix, and it has been corrupted with the face of Andre the Giant,
who has this lazy look to him. Seeing Fairey's photo I am reminded of not only
his signature which is, Andre the Giant.
When it comes the famous "Hope" poster, I do
believe that Fairey could have saved a lot of trouble for himself if he had
given the credit to Mannie Garcia's Associated Press photo in the first place.
When listening to NPR in January, Fairey even says that, "I actually
do not know who the photographer is... they have never approached me, my
illustration did stylize and idealize from the photo..." (NPR January 2009 ). Fairey
states that he obtained the photo off of Google. To me, all these actions point
to lucky chance of finding the photo, and unlucky chance of never knowing who
the photographer was, so there was no credit given. What needs to be kept in
perspective is Fairey was a street artist. He took images that were iconic and
recognizable that would be appreciated by the mass public. When it comes to
reality, it can be assumed that if Fairey did not use Garcia's photo, no one
would have seen it at all. From the NPR interviews and other articles on the
internet Garcia took many photos on the same day as the one "Hope" is
based on.
Much of Fariey's artwork takes something that is familiar
and changes it. Milton Glaser believes that nothing in Fairey's artwork is
substantial and nothing new has been added (Milton Glaser) I highly disagree
with this statement. Fairey adds his own style to his images. As shown below to
the left is Koloman Moser's 1901 cover for a magazine, and to the right is
Fairey's "Nouveau Black", with Fairey's own style. What I find very
hard to distinguish is that I think we can all agree that Fairey uses other
pieces of work and changes them to his own style, but in the process we revisit
where his inspiration came from, and like the original Moser piece below, the
art becomes popular again after decades of being forgotten.
Left: Koloman Moser’s 1901 cover for Ver Sacrum magazine. NYTimes.com. Web. 25 January 2014.
Right: Fairey’s “Nouveau Black.” Poster. Web. NYTimes.com. 25 January 2014.
In the subject of the image "Hope", Fairey changes
it so it becomes a political image for the people. At the time the image was
created, there was a sense of connection by having the first African American president,
which was a monumental change in the United States , so it is
understandable that a street artist would find this inspirational. Today this
happens all the time. A song, jingle, or pun, may become popular from being
used in some way, and if it becomes viral is that truly that person's fault?
Even if you look at Fairey's "Obey" images being seen around the
world and in movies, it became viral, yet he did not have any formal copyrights
to it in the beginning of its career.
Left: Mannie Garcia. No title. Photo. Associated Press. 2006. Web. 25 January 2014.
Right: Shepard Fairey. Hope. Poster. NYTimes.com 2009. Web. 25 January 2014.
Overall, I do understand how it may seem that Fairey is plagiarizing
other artists' works, but I still do not believe that Fairey should be
considered a crook by any means. For the last 20 years Fairey has used Andre
the Giant to promote his artwork, and has changed it various times and ways in
order to reach out to the public (Heller 3). I believe that Shepard Fairey is
an artist of great talent.
Reference:
1.) Dooley, Michael. Citizen Designer. Ed. Steven Heller and Veronique Vienne. New York: Allworth Press, 2003. Print.
2.) Fairey, Shepard. Obey: Supply & Demand. Berkeley: Gingko Press, 2006. Print.
3.) Gross, Terry. Interview with Shepard Fairey. NPR: This is Fresh Air. 20 January 2009. Web. 25 January 2014.
4.) Gross, Terry. Interview with Shepard Fairey. NPR: This is Fresh Air. 26 February 2009. Web. 25 January 2014.
5.) Heller, Steven. Shepard Fairey is Not a Crook. Time Magazine. 10 April 2009. Web. 25 January 2014.
6.) Vallen, Mark. Obey Plagiarist Shephard Fairey. n.p. Dec. 2007. Web. 25 January 2014.
