Shepard Fairey comes to Cincinnati!

A bit of old news, but about a month ago was the opening for Shepard Fairey's retrospective show at the Contemporary Arts Center, where I used to work! All month I'd been getting teasers from the staff about the wonderful works that would shown, along with a clip list of all the work that was going up. I'd done projects with schools around Cincinnati, letting students know about Fairey and his artwork. He and his team had been putting up 12-foot murals all over Cincinnati. So by the time it rolled around, I was just a psyched-up ball of excited!

And let me tell you,
It did NOT disappoint.
This was THE best art opening I have ever attended.
Let me show you why:

 

  

  

 The first image is Fairey himself DJing for a whole crowd who came out for the art and the jams. Video here (beware of language in the songs he uses). This was not the ordinary opening crowd. Since Fairey is a street artist, he attracted a following of skateboarders, taggers, rabble-rousers and mosh pit-inducing punks. In fact, at the entrance to the museum, there was a sign that said, "All skateboards must be checked at the front desk." It was a unique and inspiring atmosphere, and the casual way in which Fairey was dressed and discussed his show was quite refreshing. The last photo is a mural up on the building right next to the CAC, which greeted the hundreds of attendees to the museum that night.

The art was inspiring, to say the least. Images ranged from album covers of Shepard's favorite bands ("I don't play an instrument, but I'm going to rock it as hard as I can.") to giant collaged murals. Huge artwork of US currency-inspired collages were a stunning feature to his show. His topics were blunt and confrontational. He challenged popular views on capitalism, propaganda, world leaders and war. His original OBEY posters played a part, as well as his famous HOPE poster. (Which was displayed despite a current legal battle over copyrighted image rights).

You can find information about Fairey's OBEY poster campaign at his website here.

This show is truly a sight to behold, and will be up through August 22nd at the Contemporary Arts Center.

Shepard will be back in town on May 22nd to put up more posters and have another DJ session in the alleyways behind the CAC. 

 

(Go here for details on this upcoming event!)

Check it out!