LA ART WEEKEND PT 3:SHEPARD FAIREYS STUDIO COLLECTION
Took a afternoon to chop it up with Shepard Fairey recently when I was in LA. I’m a big fan of Shepard as a person and a multi media force. He has become a serious cultural figure since I first meet him and every single time I build with him I learn something new about his creative process and motivations. The guys a real visionary. He has taken it as far as anyone in the street art equation and unlike many of his counter parts Shepard stays busy in the streets something that erases any questions of validity or realness in my eyes.
Shepard may be the all time bombing champ and the greatest propagandist of our times. He also is a really positive propagandist with a worthy message that has effectively raised the consciousness of the culture of late. I am always curious what art motivates those that motivate and inspire me so I asked Shep if I could take some shots around his office/studio of stuff he dug. Here goes some of that stuff:
Sheps office wall:Bad pic good stuff
NeckFace,Jamel Shabazz,Banksy and Twist….
Date Farmers…
A rare Twisto piece…Twisto is Twist aka Barry Mcgee… this shit is so cool to me. Shepard and me talked about the moment when SF lead the street art/graf movement in the mid 90’s. Twist was one of the main motivators and is an icon of the movement. Like Shep he actually bombed unlike alot of so called street artists,take note late grabs
Jamie Reed poster from the original Punk band……There’s only 100 of these in the world….sick
Faile…..I like them for the sheer reason that they open the discussion of where does fine art start and graphic design end? Its a debate that applies to many in the street art paradigm
I love Martha Coopers work and Shep had a bunch of prints laying around as he had just shown her at his gallery Subliminal Projects
Shepard was honored by A.I.M the American Indian Movement the day we came to check him out….He was given this Indian drum as a token of A.I.M’s appreciation. It was super cool to hear Shepard and Amanda talk about it the were really honored by the ceremony and the gifts.
Chaz Boriquez print that actually was misprinted but Shep dug it so he kept it….It’s sick to me I love Chaz’ work he’s criminally under rated
Some Zephyr Obey logo’s I never saw anywhere ever……So cool I was explaining to Shepard that I had known Andy/Zephyr since I was a kid and how much his style influenced so many….the designs never got used maybe Shep should run them now….They’re dope!
The prize of the day to me….A Dondi original…..Dondi’s brother had sent this to Shepard. This was emotional to see as Dondi was a friend of mine when I was a kid and is no longer with us. It’s cool how much of the history of Graffiti Shepard is aware of and how much he respects the movement of graf.
Fresh Obey tile piece……It’s always great to see a artists collection I enjoy seeing what they dig it’s interesting stuff to me…The obey comes from a movie by John Carpenter called They Live it’s a sick movie…
I so wish I had one of these…..These were amazing and inspired many a street artist careers
and last but totally least a group shot…..Selim,Amanda,Shepard me and Monihan at the studio
Thanks to: Amanda,Monihan,Shep,Jeremy,Dan and Selim
Enjoy
D Ross NYC
March 5th, 2009 at 1:24 pm
Loved it, thanks for posting. Shepard is one of my faves, loved seeing the artists he’s into. The Martha Cooper prints are great and love the KAWS poster. The Dondi piece is classic, great blog!!
March 5th, 2009 at 1:27 pm
cool post
March 5th, 2009 at 1:27 pm
you tryin’ to get shep robbed? seriously, nice piece. you’re a culture–well maybe not a vulture, but at least some type of raptor.
sorry about the shakeout with vapors… i tried. they stopped paying me in november, nothing i could do… hit maurice@overamerica, he’s trying to right that ship, maybe he can sort it out.
sucks, we were building…
March 5th, 2009 at 1:32 pm
so dope! thanks for showing us what inspires the people who inspire the people.
March 5th, 2009 at 1:33 pm
Sick! I’m very jealous.
March 5th, 2009 at 11:08 pm
Thanks for puttin me on!
March 6th, 2009 at 2:16 am
nice collection, those zephyr obeys are ill. a side of shep that i’ve never seen anyone else capture. props.