SHEPARD FAIREY — Street Artist with Global Impact

Frank Shepard Fairey (b. 1970, Charleston, South Carolina) is an American contemporary street artist, graphic designer, illustrator, activist, and the founder of OBEY Clothing. Emerging from the skateboarding and punk subcultures of the late 1980s, Fairey attended the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), earning his BFA in Illustration in 1992. It was during these early years that he launched the guerrilla sticker campaign “Andre the Giant Has a Posse” (1989), a deceptively simple street intervention that evolved into the now globally recognized OBEY Giant phenomenon. The project introduced many hallmarks of Fairey’s work: subversive wit, bold graphic language, and a deep interrogation of power, propaganda, and visual influence.

Fairey’s visual style rooted in graphic design, Soviet-era posters, punk zines, and pop-cultural iconography, is instantly recognizable. Working primarily with stencils, collage, and screen printing, he employs a limited palette of red, black, cream, and white to create striking, high-contrast compositions. His imagery blends political portraiture, revolutionary symbolism, and accessible design to provoke dialogue around themes such as social justice, human rights, environmentalism, and civic responsibility.

Fairey’s most iconic work, the “HOPE” poster created for Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign, became a watershed moment in contemporary political art. It was reproduced worldwide, featured on the cover of TIME magazine, and ultimately entered the permanent collection of the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery, cementing Fairey’s influence on a new generation of political imagery.

In 2009, Fairey received his first major U.S. museum retrospective, Supply & Demand, at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, a landmark exhibition that solidified his standing as one of the world’s most influential street artists. Since then, he has produced monumental public murals across the globe, including tributes to Nelson Mandela in Johannesburg, voting rights in Milwaukee, mass incarceration in Philadelphia, and human rights movements internationally. Fairey’s public work functions as both social commentary and civic invitation, encouraging viewers to examine their role within larger political systems.

His artwork is held in major museum collections including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Museum of Modern Art (New York), Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, National Portrait Gallery (Washington, D.C.), Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, and the Victoria and Albert Museum (London). Beyond institutional recognition, his influence extends into music, fashion, editorial design, and community activism supported in part by his OBEY Awareness Program, which channels merchandise proceeds toward humanitarian and social-justice organizations.

Notable collectors of Fairey’s work include Tony and Heather Podesta, Andrew Jovic, and multiple public institutions that continue to foreground his contribution to contemporary graphic culture. From renegade street actions to museum retrospectives, Fairey’s legacy is defined by his ability to move seamlessly between underground culture, mass media, and the fine-art world, making him a central figure in the evolution of 21st-century visual activism.

Explore Shepard Fairey at DTR Modern Galleries

Shepard Fairey’s rare prints and limited-edition works are available through DTR Modern Galleries, presented across our contemporary gallery locations in Boston, New York City, Palm Beach, and Washington, D.C.