Obama 'Hope' Poster

On the subject of political posters and the Guardian newspaper, there was a story run earlier this week about the above design by Shepard Fairey which has seemingly become a cult image across America during the presidential race. The piece by Laura Barton described how, despite not being officially endorsed by the Obama campaign, the guerilla poster has been embraced and utilised by the public all over the country.


Trying to find out a bit more, I found the interview below from the Henry Rollins Show last year in which Fairey discusses the idea of phenomenology which characterised his famous 'Obey/Andre The Giant has a Posse' street art campaign. His descriptions of the power and purpose of visual imagery in our public space is very interesting, notions the 'Obey' campaign sought to illuminate and it would appear his 'Hope' piece has also transcended, obviously with a far more conspicuous subject.



Following on from this interview, the illuminating arguments of this article on LA artist Mark Vallen's site named 'Art for Change' (there's the number one Obama buzzword) are stirring rebuke. The article highlights Fairey's history of plagiarism of a wide range of political artworks and icons, from the SS Skull moniker to Communist revolutionary and Civil Rights posters from around the world.

"You Decide"