Shepard Fairey

This RUN is part of the Flint Water Crisis Print Suite with a portion of the proceeds to the Flint Child Health & Development Fund and the Michigan ACLU.

"This piece is based on a painting I did for my 'Earth Crisis' show in Paris. The entire body of work for that show used these shades of blue/turquoise as a connection to the air and water that is essential to sustaining life on planet Earth. This piece is more specifically about the idea that we need to see what is right in front of us, that we are dependent on nature and I used the blooming flower as a symbol of both beauty and growth. If we keep ruining the air and water, things won't grow, not to mention we'll all get sick." - Shepard Fairey

Visit News.1xRUN.com  to read our full interview with Shepard Fairey and watch the Michigan ACLU's documentary on the Flint Water Crisis to learn more. Donate directly to the Flint Child Health Development Fund and The Michigan ACLU.

Shepard Fairey was born in Charleston, S.C. and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Illustration at the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, R.I. As a student there he created the “Andre the Giant has a Posse” sticker that transformed into the OBEY GIANT art campaign, which featured imagery that has changed the way people see art and the urban landscape. His work has evolved into an acclaimed body of art, which includes the 2008 "Hope" portrait of Barack Obama, found at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery.

Fairey’s 25-plus-year career started in 1989 with his sticker campaign. In addition to his guerrilla street art presence, the artist has executed more than 75 large-scale painted public murals around the world as of spring 2017. His works are in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery, the Boston Institute of Contemporary Art, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and many others.

In 2015 Fairey worked with Galerie Itinerrance in Paris to install his Earth Crisis Globe at the Eiffel Tower in time for the COP21 Climate Conference. The installation was created as a call to action to protect the planet and was unveiled just days following the Paris Attacks on November 13, 2015. Later in 2016, Fairey opened “Earth Crisis,” a solo exhibition with Galerie Itinerrance showcasing a body of environmentally-themed works.

The artist completed a career survey museum show in Hong Kong in 2016 at the Hong Kong Contemporary Art (HOCA) Foundation entitled “Visual Disobedience” and in 2017 he exhibited his “Peace & Justice” show and mural in Seoul, Korea at the Hangaram Art Museum at Seoul Arts Center.

Collaborating with the Amplifier Foundation, Fairey helped launch the “We The People” campaign in January 2017, a project dedicated to igniting a national dialogue about American identity and values through public art and story sharing. His portraits celebrate diversity and inclusion and have become a visual centerpiece for marches, protests, and global discourse.

Fairey has been awarded the Art Wynwood Tony Goldman Lifetime Artistic Achievement Award and Visionary Award, the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) Voices of Courage Media Award, is a Rush Arts honoree, the first-ever P.S. ARTS heART Award, an honorary doctorate from Pratt Institute, and more.

For more information, visit www.OBEYGIANT.com.