Valerie sent us this somewhat disturbing story by artist Mark Vallen. It starts…
“Most well known for his "Obey Giant" street posters, Shepard Fairey has carefully nurtured a reputation as a heroic guerilla street artist waging a one man campaign against the corporate powers-that-be. Infantile posturing aside, Fairey’s art is problematic for another, more troubling reason - that of plagiarism.”
Doc40 isn’t taking sides in all this. God knows we gleefully lift any image that isn’t nailed down, but we figured, since Fairey’s Obama images have made him so damned hot, the tale is worth an airing. Click here.
David "Fathead" Newman -- RIP
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10 comments:
I've never liked Fairey. I've challenged any number of his fans to explain the difference between his "transgressive" and "subversive" posters and advertising. I've never gotten a satisfying answer.
Mark Vallen, on the other hand, is a real hero of the proletariat.
I'm sure Fairey believes his own bullshit, but so what?
Isn't saying Fairey appropriates images a bit like saying Hip Hop samples popular music? I read the article but can't get worked up enough to care either way.
wv= solistpo (The police force charged with ensuring the universe does not rot into a state predicted by Philip K Dick)
I never heard of this guy before - must be part of some other revolution.
wv is "resistio"! Gotta be an Omen or a synchronicity or both
Fuck Shepard Fairey. He's as important to the art world as Thomas Kinkaid; they're flip sides of the same bullshit coin. When I win the lottery, I'm going to buy an original Shepard Fairey piece (assuming there is any such thing; most of his stuff is digitally manipulated crap he appropriates and adds 'coolness' to) and wipe my ass with it.
so long as you pay for it why should he care?
Well. I have to agree with Peromyscus on this one.
I suspect what gets up people's noses is that Fairey has turned his mimeographed stylings from cottage industry into mass production for profit; in much the same fashion as Warhol (fashion being the operative word), who - incidentally - seldom employed a pencil or brush in later years, preferring to pay (or not) others to do it for him.
On the other hand, like Mark Vallen I tend to be irritated by sycophants who fall into a wanking frenzy over entrepreneurs unable to involve themselves in even the most rudimentary practice of drawing.
Playing Devil's advocate for a second, here is a quote from Picasso:
"Bad artists copy. Good artists steal."
There is a good defense of Mark Vallen's critique on the Myartspace Blog by Brian Sherwin. On the same blog it mentions that the Phantom Street Artist wants to challenge Shepard Fairey. Does not look like Fairey is liked by street artists in LA.
a response to mark vallens claims:
http://www.supertouchart.com/2009/02/02/editorial-the-medium-is-the-message-shepard-fairey-and-the-art-of-appropriation/
The world of art and designers have weighed in against $hephard Fairey. Writers, Critics, Artists and Designers have unilaterally and collectively have spoken out against him and his blatant thievery corporation.
Renowned Designer Milton Glaser was quoted in Print Magazines titled article “Milton Glaser on Shephard Fairey” stating;
“Some in the design community feel the “by” in that first sentence is in question, since many of Fairey’s images are based on preexisting photos and illustrations. And this week the issue exploded: The Associate Press has accused him of copyright infringement for his ubiquitous blue-and-red Obama poster--which they claim was based on an AP photo.”
http://www.printmag.com/design_articles/MiltonGlaseronShepardFairey/tabid/492/Default.aspx
“Mat Gleason is an art critic, writer, and publisher of the Coagula Art Journal of Los Angeles, California who shared his explicit thoughts in a video interview that appeared in the Ovation Network documentary, “Art or Not”, Gleason compared Fairey's art to advertisements for Coca-Cola, saying; "They're both on the street, they're both promoting a brand, and at the end of the day, it's a very empty experience." Gleason went on to say that, "I think that the art experience is to raise someone's consciousness, and at the end of the day the Shephard Fairey experience is to promote the brand of Shephard Fairey as a corporate entity, so I don't consider it art. He is about the furthest thing from art there is." Mat Gleason went on to add that. “I just consider him to be a successful designer and marketer who pretends to be an artist”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrx4l3rHAg8
Josh MacPhee of Justseeds/Visual Resistance Artists' Cooperative is a decentralized community of artists who have banded together to both sell their work online in a central location and to collaborate with and support each other and social movements. Josh was quoted as saying.
"One important thing to acknowledge is that Fairey is not just appropriating, but also copyrighting images that exist in our common history. Posters and graphics made in the heat of political struggles are often made by anonymous individuals or groups that want to keep the images in the public domain for use in further struggle. It is unfortunate that Fairey is attempting to personally capitalize on the generosity of others and privatize and enclose the visual commons (as seen by the prominent copyright symbols on his website and products)." Others responded against the actions of Shephard Fairey by saying...
“Fairey is dismissive of critique. His thinking is one dimensional he employs cut-and-paste as his artwork. He inveighs against the depredations of consumer culture, but his design firm works on a "Want It!" campaign for Saks Fifth Avenue. Shephard Fairey wants the street cred of a revolutionary artist extolling freedom fighters and quoting Noam Chomsky all the while doing "guerrilla" marketing campaigns for Netscape and Pepsi.”
The Phantom Street Artist has said
People will speak of a Future Day and Time when a coined term will come from the voice of the streets. The term will be a definative colloquial called Fairey Use TM to mean when an artist out of disrespect betrays important historical and revolutionary cultures, languages and authors to advance his own selfish interest in greed and mammon. This is called Fairey Use TM when an artist steals from cultural references and fails to give proper credit then hides under interpretative legal defense.
In a sentence:
Mommy is that artist pulling a Fairey Use?
Phantom Omnicient Says...
What you Buy will one day Buy you..
What you OWN will one day OWN you.
What you SELL will one day SELL you.
Finally the Phantom Street Artist says.. What You Steal will one day STEAL your name..
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