February 9, 2009
Is Shepard Fairey a sellout?
Do we care? I don’t know, but n+1 discusses it:
Of course, the allegation of selling out is an old one in the world of art and street culture. Fairey addressed the issued in an “essay” called “Absoloot Sponsorship,” where he writes, “The other day I was flipping through a ‘lifestyle’ magazine when an Absolut Vodka ad caught my eye. This particular ad was basically a verbatim reproduction of the classic Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols cover, with the sole modification to the original Jamie Reid art being a cut-paper-style Absolut bottle silhouette behind the Sex Pistols type.…The type at the bottom of the page read ‘Absolut Pistols’ in the typestyle they have branded for years.” He’s certainly in familiar territory here, musing further, “Would I have looked at the Pistols differently if their Anarchy tour had been the Absolut Anarchy tour?” One would think the answer would be a resounding, “Fuck yes, that missing ‘e’ makes all the difference!” But Fairey is trying to justify himself, so, the answer comes: “Maybe not, because the Pistols were the originators of the Great Rock ‘n’ Roll Swindle, but who knows?” This is not only tendentious but wrong. “The Great Rock ‘n’ Roll Swindle” refers to the Johnny Rotten’s last words at the final Sex Pistols show, when he asked the crowd, “Ever feel like you’ve been cheated?” Fairey seems to think that it refers to all the times the Pistols took money from record companies and failed to produce albums in return. It serves Fairey’s justification more handily to think that the Pistols were the ones on the take, and the corporate record companies the dupes in the setup, but even Johnny Rotten knew that wasn’t the case, and he didn’t go to no RISD.
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I think the guy’s slick, but not subversive.
I think by elevating his work to museum status, the joke is on them (the museum and those who patronize it).
I’m a member of this institution, and I have zero desire to see this show.
As “street art” I find his work boring and obvious, but he’s good at marketing and capitalizing on trends.
The Obama poster was effective graphic design, but hardly an inspiration, or a creative work of art.
I think Banksy is a billion times more interesting, creative, subversive, and artistic than Fairey.
So no, I don’t think he’s a sellout, because he’s got nothing to sell out.
See, also, a letter to the editors of n+1 about the article.
that creepy little redneck anti-fag ripped me off but good