$704
SHEPARD FAIREY (American, 1970) ANDRE THE GIANT - 2005 Screenprint on paper Signed and dated in pencil lower right "Shepard Fairey 13" Numbered in pencil lower left "5/6 PP" 28 1/2 by 41 1/2 inches In an interview with Shepard Fairey and Cody Goodfellow, Fairey described his original inspiration for the use of the Giant, "While studying illustration at RISD (Rhode Island School of Design), Fairey came across the Andre image in a newspaper, and so began a decade-long quest to make Andre’s Posse into the Freemasons of the 21st century. “I was running this skateboard shop at the time, and all the cool skate kids would hang out there. I enjoyed it because I was kind of the leader because I ran the shop, but I thought a lot of the posturing, like the appropriation of black hip-hop lingo, which was just coming into vogue at the time -seemed really affected. But I did it too, I thought it was funny.“So this obey giant Posse thing was like the inside joke, skate crew thing, making fun of what it’s condemning, making fun of having a crew, but being one, making fun of the language. Wrestling was the most uncool thing to uberhip skaters, but to associate yourself with it was funny, it was a paradox. I made the stickers, and decided to stick them around almost as an annoyance, a thorn in the side of the people I hung out with. I’d go to a party, and stick one in the medicine cabinet.”Fairey’s inside joke leaked out to the public at large and spread like an epidemic, as reactions
Auctioneer:
Juliens Auctions
Date:
2016-09-01
