Sunday, December 28, 2008


Former California street artist Shepard Fairey created the portrait of Barack Obama that TIME Magazine used as the cover art for its 2008 Person of the Year edition. I have been a fan of his since he busted out the Andre the Giant Has a Posse campaign 10 years ago. I think it is wonderful the Obama campaign saw the power in using a public artist who speaks from the street level for his official image. During the campaign, Shepard created the Hope poster which spread virally just as Andre the Giant did years before. The power of Art and Politics once again throws a message out that speaks louder and clearer than any amount of text. To me it speaks of the general public really being heard and considered more so than the last 8 years. This is not a court painter, but a graffitti artist, skater who knows his skills well and the message it sends. My hope is for a retuen of a The Federal Art Project to hire artists across the nation. Sign me up for public art that is out of the museums and in the public's eye.

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