/ PRESENTATION
SHEPARD FAREY. OBEY
from the press release
From December 6, 2014 to February 28, 2015, the PAN | Palazzo delle Arti in Naples hosted Shepard Fairey, one of the most celebrated American street artists.
A leading figure in the contemporary art scene, Shepard Fairey—better known by his pseudonym OBEY—rose to international fame with his stylized four-color portrait of Barack Obama, overlaid with the words Hope, Change, and Progress. The image became a symbol of the U.S. presidential campaign in 2008. Described by New Yorker art critic Peter Schjeldahl as “the most efficacious American political illustration since Uncle Sam,” Fairey’s portrait of Obama became a contemporary pop icon, just as Andy Warhol had done with Marilyn Monroe, Mao, and Campbell’s soup cans.
Curated by Massimo Sgroi and organized by Password Onlus in collaboration with the Department of Culture and Tourism of the City of Naples, the exhibition presented, for the first time in an Italian museum, 60 works that trace the stylistic evolution of Shepard Fairey. These included the series created for the city of Venice, Capitol Hill, and the monumental canvas—never before exhibited—alongside works from private collections.
The exhibition confirmed Naples’ role as a key player in contemporary culture, offering visitors a space to engage with timely social themes such as war, repression, propaganda, racism, environmental protection, and the relationship between music and contemporary icons. For Obey, the goal is to prompt the viewer to develop their own interpretation and reflect on the meaning of what they see: “It’s an ongoing dialogue with the observer; what I do is send a stimulus and respond with a new stimulus based on the reaction I receive.”
Frank Shepard Fairey, known as Obey, was born in Charleston, South Carolina, on February 15, 1970.
The son of a doctor and a real estate agent, Fairey grew up in South Carolina, studied art, and graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1988. In 1989, he conceived the André the Giant Has a Posse campaign: plastering city walls with stickers depicting the face of wrestling star André the Giant. The image was soon replicated by other artists in cities across the world. According to Fairey, the subject had no particular meaning—the point was to generate a media phenomenon and prompt citizens to reflect on their relationship with the urban environment.
It was at this moment that Obey’s artistic vision began to take shape, focusing on key themes such as propaganda and social control. His attention to the communicative power of art would later inform his guerrilla marketing strategies and, during the U.S.–Iraq conflict, his engagement in politics through the creation of anti-war posters.
However, the initiative that propelled Fairey to international recognition was the Hope poster—a stylized portrait of Barack Obama that became the icon of the campaign which brought the Democratic candidate to the White House. The poster also appeared, during the 2008 campaign, with the captions Change and Vote. Although Obama’s campaign never officially endorsed Fairey’s work—likely due to the posters being illegally wheatpasted in accordance with street art tradition—the newly elected President later sent the artist a letter, which was made public, thanking him for his creative contribution. The letter concluded with the words: “I am privileged to be part of your artwork and proud to have your support.”
The exhibition was accompanied by the publication of a catalog, published by DRAGO.