Shepard Fairey’s HOPE poster - The counterfeits!

Comments (9)

• One of my faves...
  http://frighteningprospect.com/images/art/votepalin-web452x600.png

  Download and put it up round your town!
  http://frighteningprospect.com/artwork.html

  shoes - October 28, 2008, 19:22 / Report abuse

• Brilliant!!! There's a lot of great one's there, but i love how simple the 'Pope' one is... It's just so easy.

  I wonder if Shep knew what he was getting himself into when slapping up his original poster?

  The Badger - October 29, 2008, 0:00 / Report abuse

• Funny how everyone is plagiarizing Shepherd considering how he much he plagiarizes everyone else!

  13o13 - October 29, 2008, 1:29 / Report abuse

• Totally agree 13o13. Found this link on another design blog, it's really quite astonishing how much of a total rip off merchant Shepherd Fairey is. Especially when he never gives any of the original artists any credit whatsoever. It kinda really pisses me off.

  This is well worth reading:

  http://www.art-for-a-change.com/Obey/index.htm

  Becky999 - October 29, 2008, 1:35 / Report abuse

• From the man himself...

  “I’m very happy that the Hope poster has become such a point of reference. One parody that is not included is something I consider a high point in my career for pop culture recognition. MAD Magazine’s new cover is a spoof of my Obama image. I loved MAD as a kid. I think MAD’s satire heightened my understanding of irony and hypocrisy. I’m very excited to be a part of MAD’s history.”

  You can view the MAD parody cover over at Creative Review's blog, along with a continuation of the debate about the validity Shepherd's work.

  Alex - October 29, 2008, 13:37 / Report abuse

• Becky999 - Those examples on that web page are plagiarism, plain and simple. No arguement.

  I used to like some of Shepherd's work but I've lost any respect for the guy, he doesn't even talk about or credit any of his sources.

  Shepherd Fairey is a phony!

  13o13 - October 29, 2008, 13:50 / Report abuse

• Is the guy a phony or is he just smart?

  Much like musicians sample beats and lyrics when creating new music, it could be seen that Shepherd is simply using a bass layer from which to then evolve his work from?

  I'm not saying that what he does is necessarily right, but maybe it's a little more wide spread across a variety of genres in the arts?

  The Badger - October 29, 2008, 22:40 / Report abuse

• The sampling analogy doesn't really work. Artists that use samples well take an element of someone elses work and reimagine it as something new (DJ Shadow's Entroducing is a classic example - every sound on it is sampled).

  Shepherd is not just lifting one element from existing artworks, he is taking the whole thing and passing it off as his own.

  He's not clever, he's a chancer.

  13o13 - October 29, 2008, 23:14 / Report abuse

• Man, my fiancee just bought me 2 Obey shirts, and I bought 3 more, and another 2 for my sister's birthday. I can't help but feel cheated after reading the articles on Shepherd stealing those iconic images. Overall, I do like the finished product; whether it's "borrowed" or not- I just wished Shepy would at least acknowledge the source... the sincerity of Obey's meaning is drastically nullified. It's a saddening concept of art.

  romeo - December 27, 2008, 12:36 / Report abuse

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