Collection: Obey - Frank Shepard Fairey

(Charleston 1970)

Born in South Carolina, passionate about skateboarding and drawing, Shepard grew up listening to punk-rock music, observing the covers of some historic bands like the Sex Pistols and letting himself be “inspired” by the graphics of brands such as Santa Cruz or Powell-Peralta. In 1989, still a student at the Rhode Island School of Design, he plastered the city of Providence with over a million stickers depicting the face of the French wrestler André the Giant, but it was after seeing the graffiti in New York that, as he himself states, he realized he wanted to bring art to the streets.
Obey's creative inspiration comes from the fusion of his background with a passion for early 20th-century Soviet graphics. His artistic production combines different languages, from graphic design to photography, through collage and illustration; however, the ideal place to manifest his freedom of expression, as an artist and as a man, remains the walls.
Shepard has never been afraid to link his image to social and political issues: he supported Obama's campaign with the famous “Hope” poster, took a stand against every war, and with the sale of his works, he funds various organizations that fight to reduce the climate crisis.
He has created hundreds of drawings on the walls of cities around the world. His works are exhibited in the collections of some famous museums such as the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston, the MoMA in New York, and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.