Shepard Fairey, who may be best known for his “Hope” poster of President Barack Obama, will unveil a new mural at the Albuquerque Railyards on Sunday. This follows the opening of his first solo show in New Mexico and another mural in Santa Fe.
Fairey’s influences are wide and diverse and include Russian constructivism, pop art, and skateboard graphics. But he says his common element is a desire to reduce things to their most potent essence so they can be digested quickly. His Obey Giant brand is based on one of his first pieces of street art, a graphic based on Andre the Giant, and is part of what he calls conscious capitalism in support of causes he believes in. One of his more recent pieces, called “It Can’t Happen Here,” features a handcuffed Statue of Liberty and is based on the dystopian political novel of the same name by Sinclair Lewis.
KUNM spoke with Fairey about his long career as a street artist and activist and his exhibit “Cultivating Justice.” And just a note, the interview moves inside about half-way through because of a looming thunderstorm at the site of his Santa Fe mural.
SHEPARD FAIREY: The “Cultivating Justice” show is largely containing images that I did for a traveling show that was primarily portraits of women having to do with equality, with environmental responsibility, social justice in general. But there's a lot of work in there that is covering other things. There's some portraits of Bob Marley, Bob Dylan. There's a wide range of imagery in the show, but it almost all has to do with making a more just, fair, equal world. Turner Carroll, the gallery I work with, they are showing a lot of really great feminist artists, and in fact, I met them through Nadia [Tolokonnikova] from Pussy Riot, and they also show my good friend Swoon, who is an amazing woman covering a lot of women's issues in her work. So it kind of fell into place that women as protectors of community, as peace builders, as the more cooperative and collaborative gender ,would come into place in that body of work. Now, of course, I you know I don't think any group is perfectly consistent. You know, there's the Margaret Thatchers and the Imelda Marcoses of the world. But you know, generally, my experience with my wife, my many of female coworkers is that there's less undermining, less ego, and more genuine cooperation. And I'd like to see an end to patriarchy. I'd like to see women have more leadership roles, and the culture that women tend to represent be more valued.
KUNM: Can you talk about the Albuquerque mural?
FAIREY: Yeah, sure. So I go from here in Santa Fe to Albuquerque to paint a mural at the Barelas Rail Yards, which has a really interesting history, and I talked to a lot of people from the creative community and various cultural perspectives, and a lot of the people who worked at the Rail Yard were Native or Latino, and so one of the dominant figures in the mural is a worker with a sort of 1930s-style cap and overalls, looking dignified, because one of the things that a lot of people drove home for me is like, okay, this rail yard, the people who worked here worked very hard and helped to drive something that was great for the local economy and help build the backbone of the city, but they aren't necessarily recognized, and you know these are all things that sit perfectly with my philosophy -- that depending on, you know, what color skin you're born with or how affluent the family you were born into was, you may have people consider your voice to be more legitimate or give or open doors for you more than others. And I'm always rooting for the underdog. I want more equality. I want more fairness.
KUNM: You have done a wide range of work from corporate marketing campaigns to graffiti to political protests. How do you choose your projects?
FAIREY: Whenever possible, I'm choosing my projects based on my belief system and what I think will be creatively rewarding. Now, the inconvenience of needing to make money does come into play sometimes, and I've always employed what I call the “inside outside strategy” since I was in my 20s, where I come from punk rock and skateboarding and street art, and I will do things outside the system when there's no way to make it work within the system. But if I can infiltrate the system on my own terms and do great things, I'll do that too. And so that's ranged from doing things like graphic design for Levi's or record labels or films, and you know occasionally it'll be an interesting overlap doing something for Levi's, who are themselves collaborating with the ACLU, who I often collaborate with, means I get paid by Levi's to do something I was usually doing free for the ACLU anyway. This is an amazing opportunity.
But I have worked very hard over the years to try to build out an economic model that allowed me to do the things I believe in, and also to raise money for causes I care about. So, if I make an image that's about climate change, I can make a painting that sells for a certain amount. I can make a print that sells for a lower amount, a sticker, a T-shirt, and then give money to the Sierra Club or 350.org or Greenpeace, any number of organizations that I've worked with over the years. But it's very challenging right now because I've seen so many people stop investing in art and buying prints because they feel economically insecure right now. So my conscious capitalism model is more challenged at the moment, but I always figure out ways to make things work and to do what I believe in.
KUNM: Do you still do graffiti? Do you decline to answer?
FAIREY: Yeah, it's something that I can't answer because if I say no, then I'm not keeping it real. If I say yes, the next Obey poster that pops up anywhere, I'll be arrested for. So, this has literally happened by me being honest in an interview in Boston.
KUNM: From the Obama poster to now, how has your thinking about how you can be effective in the world changed?
FAIREY: The Obama poster was a really amazing moment because it was a piece of grassroots activism that went viral and actually achieved a lot. And I, you know, I know that from talking to hundreds and hundreds of people who said, "Yeah, I didn't look into Obama seriously until I saw your poster and I was really moved by it. “And so I know that art can help to shape culture. I don't think that art alone should ever be the deciding factor. If someone says, "Yeah, hey, that looks cool. The Nazis made cool imagery, and that was cool looking,” but yeah, don't follow that because it looks cool. But what I always say with my work is, if it can help to direct the focus in a way that might help culture evolve. Then you know that's incredible, and I wish more creative people did it.
KUNM: Where are you finding joy right now?
FAIREY: I find a lot of joy in just making stuff, and I also find joy in being part of the resistance, being a thorn in the side of the people that wish to get a little richer themselves at the expense of others, to dominate others, to subjugate others. If I'm upsetting them, I'm very happy.
Fairey's mural at the Albuquerque Rail Yards will be unveiled Sunday at 10 a.m. He also created a mural at the Santa Fe Art Institute called “Rising Above Mosaic.” His solo show, “Cultivating Justice,” will continue through August 10 at Turner Carroll Gallery in Santa Fe.
