SHEPARD FAIREY BIO
Shepard Fairey (American, b.1970) is a renowned graphic artist known for
his work on the images of Andre the Giant and the wordobey. Fairey was born in
Charleston, SC, and he became interested in art as a young man, when he started
to use his drawings on T-shirts and skateboards. Fairey's father is a doctor, and
his mother is a realtor. The artist attended Idyllwild Arts Academy in Palm
Springs, CA, and graduated in 1988. He earned his BFA from the Rhode Island
School of Design in Providence, RI, in 1992.
While in school, Fairey held a part -time job in a skateboarding shop; the job
fit well with the budding artist's interest in street cultur e and graffiti. During this
time, the artist was also interested in punk music, and when a friend asked him to
explain and demonstrate the creation of a stencil, he chose to use the banal image
of Andre the Giant on a newspaper ad for the demonstration. So on after that,
Fairey introduced his pieces to the streets via Graffiti Art. Two of Fairey's well known pieces are Obey (1992) and Hope (2008). Hope is an iconic portrait of the
American president Barack Obama that Fairey produced during the 2008
American presidential campaign.
Fairey has been involved in both solo and group exhibitions in diverse
places. He has held solo exhibitions in Capsule, Birmingham, England (2000);
Kantor Gallery Window, New York, NY (2003); and Merry Karnosky Gallery,
Los Angeles, CA (2007). Examples of his group exhibitions include those held at
CPOP Gallery, Detroit, MI, (2001); Ducky Waddles Emporium, Encinitas, CA
(2004); and OXOP Gallery, Minneapolis, MN (2006). Fairey received the Brit
Insurance Design of the Year Award in 2 009 for his Hope poster. The artist has
been involved in different controversies, mainly related to the allegations that he
uses other artists' work without permission. Fairey was commissioned by Time
Magazine in 2011 to design a cover for the magazine. Fa irey is represented by
Irvine Contemporary gallery in Washington, DC. The artist lives and works in
Los Angeles, CA.
Shepard Fairey. Exhibitions.
2013
Cash, Cans & Candy, Gallery Hilger NEXT, Vienna, Austria
20 Horse Years: The Horse Hospital, London, England
Urban Art Biennale 2013 - Urban Art Biennale, Völklingen, Germany
At home I´m a tourist, Colección de Selim Varol - Centro de Arte Contemporáneo
Málaga, Spain
2012
Sound & Vision, StolenSpace Gallery, London, England
Early Works, Lust Gallery, Vienna, Austria
a print selection, Galerie Kasten, Mannheim, Germany
2011
Your Ad Here, V1 Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark
Screenprints, Belgrave Gallery, St Ives, England
2010
May Day, Deitch Projects, New York, NY, USA (solo exhibition)
Supply and Demand: 20 Year Retrospective, CAC Cincinnati, Ohio; traveled to the
Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
2009
Supply and Demand: 20 Year Retrospective, Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, MA
A New Mural Project, Country Club / Iconoclast Editions, Ohio, USA
2008
Duality of Humanity, White Walls, San Fransisco, CA, USA
Imperfect Union, Merry Karnowsky Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
White Walls Gallery, San Francisco, CA (solo exhibition)
2007
E Pluribus Venom, Jonathan LeVine Gallery, NY, NY, USA (solo exhibition)
Nineteeneightyfouria, StolenSpace Gallery, London, England (solo exhibition)
Merry Karnowsky Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, USA (solo exhibition)
2006
Wax Poetics Gallery, Burbank, CA, USA (solo exhibition)
White Walls Gallery, San Francisco, CA , USA (solo exhibition)
Maxalot Gallery, Barcelona, Spain (solo exhibition)
Galerie Magda Danysz, Paris, France (solo exhibition)
OXOP Gallery, Minneapolis, MN, USA
New Art Center, Newtonville, MA, USA
Galerie de Jour Agnès B, Paris, France
2005
Hillwood Art Museum, Brookville, NY, USA
Voice 1156 Gallery, San Diego, CA, USA
P4 Space, Milan, Italy
Copro Nason Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Beautiful Losers, Costa Mesa, CA, USA
Misanthropy Gallery, Vancouver, Canada
Galerie de Jour Agnes B, Paris, France
EXIT Gallery, Hong Kong, China (solo exhibition)
DC Gallery, Denver, CO, USA (solo exhibition)
Hard Rock Café Gallery, Orlando, FL, USA (solo exhibition)
Toyroom Gallery, Sacramento, CA, USA (solo exhibition)
OX-OP Gallery, Minneapolis, MN, USA (solo exhibition)
Voice 1156 Gallery, San Diego, CA (solo exhibition)
Merry Karnowsky Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, USA (solo exhibition)
Black Floor Gallery, Philadelphia, PA, USA (solo exhibition)
Galerie Magda Danysz, Paris, France
Dyezu Experiment, Tokyo, Japan
Mendenhall Sobieski Gallery, Pasadena, CA, USA
DC Gallery, Denver, CO, USA
V1 Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark
Project Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Track 16 Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, USA
2004
Kerkchof Gallery, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA (solo exhi bition)
The Ad Shop, Brussels, Belgium (solo exhibition)
Toy Room Gallery, Sacramento, CA, USA (solo exhibition)
V1 Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark (solo exhibition)
Kantor Gallery Window, New York, NY, USA (solo exhibition)
Shooting Gallery, San Francisco, CA, USA (solo exhibition)
Gallery Katz, Boston, MA, USA (solo exhibition)
Martin Mcintosh Outer Gallery, Melbourne, Australia (solo exhibi tion)
Merry Karnowsky Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, USA (solo exhibition)
Paragraph Gallery, Kansas City, MO, USA (solo exhibition)
Paul Rodgers 9W Gallery, New York, NY, USA
Beautiful Losers, CAC, Cincinnati, OH, USA
Ducky Waddles Emporium, Encinitas, CA, USA
Streetwise 3, Santa Monica, CA, US A
Beautiful Losers, Yerba Buena, San Francisco, CA, USA
QEEROPHONIC, Subliminal Projects, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Carlos Irizarry Gallery, San Juan, Puerto Rico
OBJEX Artspace, Miami, FL, USA
2003
La Base, Paris, France (solo exhibition)
Perhelion Arts, Phoenix, AZ, USA (solo exhibition)
SIXSPACE, Los Angeles, CA, USA (solo exhibition)
CPOP, Detroit, MI, USA (solo exhibition)
Think Tank, CO, USA (solo exhibition)
RED FIVE, San Francisco, CA, USA (solo exhibition)
Kantor Gallery Window, New York, NY, USA (solo exhibition)
Milk, San Francisco, CA, USA (solo exhibition)
Session the Bowl, Deitch Projects, New York, NY, USA
Quite Riot, Long Beach, CA, USA
Design Is Kinky Conference, Sydney, Australia
Back Jumps Exhibition, Berlin, Germany
2002
Emporium Gallery, Encinitas, CA, USA (solo exhibition)
1300 Gallery, Cleveland, OH, USA (solo exhibition)
Boston Museum, Boston, MA, USA (solo exhibition)
Dept/Fumiya Gallery, Tokyo, Japan (solo exhibition)
Max Fish, New York, NY, USA
Merry Karnowski Gallery, Hollywood, CA, USA
Day by Day Gallery, Richmond, VA, USA
The Blue Cube, Columbus, OH, USA
Seven Degrees Gallery, Laguna Beach, CA, USA
Apart Gallery, London, UK
Modart, CA, USA
2001
Hallsey Gallery, College of Charleston, SC, USA (solo exhibition)
Tin Man Alley Gallery, New Hope, PA, USA (solo exhibition)
CPOP Gallery, Detroit, MI, USA
Levi's Vortex Gallery
Bush Gallery, Providence, RI
MOCA DC, Washington, DC, USA
2000
Capsule, Birmingham, England (solo exhibition )