Shepard Fairey Los Angeles-based graphic designer Shepard Fairey.

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Shepard Fairey: The Artist Behind the Obama Portrait

A portrait created by a graphic designer ended up becoming the icon for the Obama campaign and an international phenomenon

  • By Megan Gambino
  • Smithsonian.com, January 14, 2009

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    To show his support for Barack Obama, Los Angeles-based graphic designer Shepard Fairey created a large-scale, red, white and blue collage of the President-elect. From there, Hope, as he calls it, went viral. He printed posters and stickers of the portrait, and ardent Obama supporters tagged them on city buildings and car bumpers. He put a downloadable version of the design on the web, and others snagged it for t-shirts and signs. Literally, Hope has become the most recognizable image of the campaign, so much so that spoofs have cropped up with the faces of John McCain and Sarah Palin and words other than “hope”—like “nope”—on them. Time magazine commissioned a similar portrait from Fairey for its 2008 Person of the Year cover this past December. Washington, D.C. art collectors Heather and Tony Podesta recently donated Fairey’s original 60-by-44-inch collage to the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery, where it will be on display starting January 17. Fairey spoke with Smithsonian.com about his work.

    You are a product of the urban street artist scene. The National Portrait Gallery isn’t exactly the street. Is it odd for you to see your work hung in a museum?

    I’ve never really considered myself just a street artist. I consider myself a populist. I want to put my work in front of people by many different means; the street is one aspect. Commercial projects are another aspect -- T-shirts, album packaging. Art shows and the institutions end up being the couriers for culture for the next generation and are an important component as well. It may seem ironic from one perspective, but I think if you look at my overall strategy, it’s actually not out of step. To me, to be validated by the Smithsonian is only possible because the grass roots populist efforts I made resonated to such a degree.

    What specifically about the image do you think made people embrace it?

    I think the main thing is that people were moved by Obama. Let’s face it. Obama is younger, he’s handsome. He’s half white, half black; he’s unique-looking. I think that when you talk about making images, [the fact] that it’s not just another 65-year-old white guy helps. Most campaigns rely on photographs because the moment you do something that is a graphic interpretation where any artistic license has been taken, I think a lot of people are scared that it’s going to be perceived as propaganda.

    Propaganda has a negative connotation, which it partially deserves, but I think there is some propaganda that is very positive. I feel that if you can do something that gets people’s attention, then maybe they’ll go and find out more about the person. My hope with my image was that if I made an iconic image of Obama that yielded both a recognizable portrait of him and something that seemed to transcend the limitations of a photograph -- something that felt like a passionate art piece and had an idealism to it that would reflect the idealism of the subject -- then it could be a powerful tool.

    To me, the qualities that I tried to make sure were in the image were vision, confidence, patriotism. The way I shaded the face half blue, half red—the convergence of the left and the right, the blue states and the red states. These are things that may be more subconsciously understood by the viewer, but I think they made the image powerful and people remembered it. But none of that would have mattered if people didn’t care about Obama. I just happened to make the right image at the right moment.

    To show his support for Barack Obama, Los Angeles-based graphic designer Shepard Fairey created a large-scale, red, white and blue collage of the President-elect. From there, Hope, as he calls it, went viral. He printed posters and stickers of the portrait, and ardent Obama supporters tagged them on city buildings and car bumpers. He put a downloadable version of the design on the web, and others snagged it for t-shirts and signs. Literally, Hope has become the most recognizable image of the campaign, so much so that spoofs have cropped up with the faces of John McCain and Sarah Palin and words other than “hope”—like “nope”—on them. Time magazine commissioned a similar portrait from Fairey for its 2008 Person of the Year cover this past December. Washington, D.C. art collectors Heather and Tony Podesta recently donated Fairey’s original 60-by-44-inch collage to the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery, where it will be on display starting January 17. Fairey spoke with Smithsonian.com about his work.

    You are a product of the urban street artist scene. The National Portrait Gallery isn’t exactly the street. Is it odd for you to see your work hung in a museum?

    I’ve never really considered myself just a street artist. I consider myself a populist. I want to put my work in front of people by many different means; the street is one aspect. Commercial projects are another aspect -- T-shirts, album packaging. Art shows and the institutions end up being the couriers for culture for the next generation and are an important component as well. It may seem ironic from one perspective, but I think if you look at my overall strategy, it’s actually not out of step. To me, to be validated by the Smithsonian is only possible because the grass roots populist efforts I made resonated to such a degree.

    What specifically about the image do you think made people embrace it?

    I think the main thing is that people were moved by Obama. Let’s face it. Obama is younger, he’s handsome. He’s half white, half black; he’s unique-looking. I think that when you talk about making images, [the fact] that it’s not just another 65-year-old white guy helps. Most campaigns rely on photographs because the moment you do something that is a graphic interpretation where any artistic license has been taken, I think a lot of people are scared that it’s going to be perceived as propaganda.

    Propaganda has a negative connotation, which it partially deserves, but I think there is some propaganda that is very positive. I feel that if you can do something that gets people’s attention, then maybe they’ll go and find out more about the person. My hope with my image was that if I made an iconic image of Obama that yielded both a recognizable portrait of him and something that seemed to transcend the limitations of a photograph -- something that felt like a passionate art piece and had an idealism to it that would reflect the idealism of the subject -- then it could be a powerful tool.

    To me, the qualities that I tried to make sure were in the image were vision, confidence, patriotism. The way I shaded the face half blue, half red—the convergence of the left and the right, the blue states and the red states. These are things that may be more subconsciously understood by the viewer, but I think they made the image powerful and people remembered it. But none of that would have mattered if people didn’t care about Obama. I just happened to make the right image at the right moment.

    Was there a tipping point when you knew that this portrait was really taking off?

    It has exceeded my expectations almost from the get-go, but I think [it was] about a month after I initially made the image, about the middle of February [2008]. First of all, I received a letter from Obama thanking me for making the image, and then, secondly, his campaign asked me if I would help them out. It was just being seen at rallies and on the Internet and everywhere. I couldn’t turn on C-Span or CNN without seeing the image. Really, when I went to the Democratic Convention in Denver and every two-bit hoodlum vendor that was selling merchandise had pins, stickers, posters, T-shirts of the graphic, then I realized that wow, this image is inseparable from this campaign at this point.

    Tell me about when you first met Obama.

    I feel like it was maybe April or May. I met Obama at a fundraiser in Los Angeles. I had the sticker in my pocket because I knew in one of those introduction lines that he might not know me by name, but he would know the image.

    I was with my wife and I shook his hand, pulled the sticker out and said I’m the person that made this. With most of the people he was just quick photo, smile, nice to meet you and on to the next, because there were literally hundreds of people there. But he stepped back and said, “Wow, I love this image,” and “How did you get it spread around so fast?”

    He seemed genuinely very appreciative of it, and considering how much his campaign raised and how little money I had to spend in comparison to get the image out there, I think he was impressed. It’s really about the people power, not the dollar power.

    Can you tell me about the method of getting the image out there? Did you have teams of people in different cities tagging buildings?

    Initially, I made 700 prints—350 to sell on my Web site for $45 each and 350 to have immediately to put up on the street. Then I used the money from the 350 prints to print another 10,000 prints, which were mailed out to various people around the country in places that hadn’t had primaries or caucuses yet. They were distributed at Oprah’s rally at USC [University of Southern California]. A free download was created for my Web site to allow anybody who was a supporter to make his or her own sign. My friend Yosi Sergant was already an Obama supporter and knew a lot of people. He was really instrumental in disseminating the posters to really motivated Obama supporters. I couldn’t have done it all without him.

    What do you believe is the artist’s role when it comes to politics?

    I think that art has the ability to capture people’s imaginations and make them think that more is possible. My idea about the role of artists is to get people to look at things in a way that’s different than the way they normally would if they are being told how to think, what to do. I think when people receive information through art they are more open-minded.

    What’s next for you?

    Other than helping Obama be elected, the other most phenomenal result of this poster is that it’s really opened a lot of people’s eyes to the value of art. It’s hard to quantify what art does, but I think now there are some people that are looking at art as a valuable tool that never did in the past.

    "Shepard Fairey: Supply & Demand," a 20-year retrospective of Fairey’s work, runs from February 6 to August 16, 2009, at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston. An expanded, limited-edition copy of the artist’s book, Obey: Supply & Demand, will also be available.


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    Comments

    Hey, Shepard, we are excited about your future. The poster was exactly what needed to be done. We have ordered several copies from the Obama website to frame and to save. We live in Anderson, South Carolina, and we read about you and your grandmother in our local paper (Anderson Independent-Mail. Good article.

    Posted by Brena Walker on January 24,2009 | 09:17AM

    I am very impressed with the artwork and the motive to produce it. Where can i get a print of the Poster?

    Posted by Edward Cook on January 24,2009 | 10:18AM

    The art work is powerful but not original because it is a take-off of Andy Warhol's.

    Posted by Rory on January 24,2009 | 10:21AM

    Loved the image as soon as I saw it can't remember the periodical it was in but I immediately made copies on my color printer covered with clear plastic put double sticky tape on back & placed on my work hard hat. Everyone who saw my hard hat would say where did you get that sticker, thats really cool can you get me one. For some reason it reminded me of an old Kinks album cover that had a face on the cover where the shadows were done in a flat black while the rest of the face was the white background. Your poitrait has more definition, along with colors, but is very recoginizable even from a distance because of the shadows,just like the Kinks LP cover I've worked for ALCOA for 36 years I am a lab Team leader there, I have a B.A. in Art form a small Indiana college, and I believe Barack Obama is the balm that our hurting economy sorely needs.

    Posted by Michael A. Collins on January 24,2009 | 12:15PM

    I have already ordered stickers and posters and a button because I love your work. Thanks for the comments. Julie Steckel (Psychotheratist), Santa Barbara, CA

    Posted by Julie Steckel on January 24,2009 | 12:26PM

    I love your poster. It is simple and creative. As an art therapist I feel art is for the people and you made art accessible to the people. Thanks.

    Posted by Sangeeta Prasad on January 24,2009 | 04:03PM

    It's a pity that it's not really original, since an AP photographer took that image back in 2006. Fairey just threw it into photoshop or the like and just posterized the photo and bam out comes this. Would have been cooler if it were an original work, and not blatantly derivative like most of his work is.

    Posted by Lisa on January 24,2009 | 04:15PM

    I was moved by the portrait of President Obama. It portrayed hope and strength. This is a man that will lead us to a new era,someone we can be proud of as the leader of our country. He will also bring respect back to the United States after eight years of shame and disaster.

    Posted by Inez Larsen on January 24,2009 | 05:58PM

    When I viewed the portrait of Barock Obama by Shepard Fairy...It blew me away...It captures him with pure honesty and with honor. Great work, Shepard! from Lynne Two Rivers, Wisconsin

    Posted by lynne Manthey Prucha on January 24,2009 | 08:13PM

    So smart, so clever! But this is what a great designer, a great artist, does: visualizing and capturing what people might not be able to see right away. Artists are a "mirror of the time we live in" and you did an awesome job with this poster! Thank you!!

    Posted by Anna Furlong on January 25,2009 | 09:10AM

    What made the composer Haydn so great was that he took ideas and tunes of his time and created memorable music. He took the popular palette and ran with it, choosing from it to embellish his creativity. This is honorable and is exactly what Fairey has done, for the benefit of many. It is a connection whose importance will stand the test of time. Bravo!

    Posted by JT Martin on January 28,2009 | 02:42AM

    In response to Lisa January24. If you take a photo that no one really notices, even if you just pop it into photoshop and posterize it and add the word hope - you are creating, especially if your creation is the one that then gets noticed. Look in Modern Art museums and you'll see canvases painted just one color. There is brilliance in creation that moves masses even if the process seemed trivial. Brilliance is often doing less than more.

    Posted by Pe Pe on February 4,2009 | 05:46PM

    I like the image, yes, but I believe it is important for the public to know that this image was created from a photograph, and not just created out of thin air. This article, and the artist have misrepresented the public by not explaining where the image originated from.

    Posted by Tracy on February 5,2009 | 10:32AM

    I agree w/ Lisa (above) and find it particularly disturbing that this guy doesn't at least owe up to the now well publicized fact that his phart (photo-art) is not a genuine original completely of his own creation. I am not overlooking the artistry he demonstrated but I would feel differntly had he admitted the origin of his work. Its different than someone using their own digital photgraph and enhancing it for dramatic effect. It will be interesting to see how the legal battle proceeds.

    Posted by realtime on February 6,2009 | 01:53PM

    Hi Shep! Love the work. Fits right in with your motto of "worldwide propaganda". Maybe you're hoping at the end of 4 years we will all OBEY him.

    Posted by Adam on February 10,2009 | 01:45PM

    I support Shepard Fairey's vision of hope and his creativity. His graphic design enhanced what the AP photographer pubished - both captured a sense of a shared vision, both embraced the image of Obama and shared with the world that America is looking ahead in confidence. I like that message of hope and unity.

    Posted by Mairead Colbath on February 16,2009 | 08:06PM

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