Obey Obama Poster

Influential urban artist, Shepard Fairey, creator of Obey has created a political poster for Barack Obama. Shepard has always been one to take opinionated and public stands on many political issues through his heavily travelled website, public speaking arrangements and to the greatest extent, his artwork. He juxtaposes commentaries on modern social issues with a style that heavily resembles communist propaganda from the middle of last century. This poster though, has probably received as much, or more publicity and attention than any of his other social stances. The 360 posters sold out in less than hour and since, the Obey team and Shepard have had to take legal action for people attempting to resell his prints on EBAY, even after they read a disclaimer explicitly stating that personal profiteering off the poster is prohibited.



The New York Times has profiled the poster and no doubt continued to add significance to what Shepard's poster project means. Some believe that his poster will increase Barack's appeal to young people, the demographic most influenced by Shepard's work. One woman on the NY times comment board expressed her dislike for the poster because it was, "Too reminiscent of the old Communist posters." She continues, "All that’s missing is a hammer and sickle or “Workers of the World, Unite!”
Obama deserves something fresher than this."



It is the cultivated hate for communist ideas and Shepards's style parallel to communist propaganda that makes his work so powerful. His style is one of clean vector representations of social movements, poltiical figures and global commentaries. He is best known for his wheatpaste applications in public places technically considered vandalism but with Shepard's rise in prestige has now been identified as a respectable art form. Shepard will continue to pour his heart and soul into his work, stirring controversy over a myriad of modern issues that face our nation and our globe.