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HOPE

Shepard Fairey (OBEY)

HOPE

2008

Offset lithograph in colours on wove paper

91.5 × 61 cm

Location: Paris, France

https://www.artransfer.com/web/image/product.template/28782/image_1920?unique=3db916c

4,540 € 4540.0 EUR 4,540 €

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About the artwork

Created in 2008 by Shepard Fairey, HOPE is a color offset lithograph on wove paper measuring 91.5 x 61 cm. Signed and dated in pencil by the artist, it belongs to one of the most emblematic visual bodies of contemporary political art. Conceived in the context of the 2008 U.S. presidential campaign, the image presents a stylized portrait of Barack Obama using a restricted palette of reds, blues and beiges, organized in sharply contrasting graphic flat tints. The frontal gaze, the slight elevation of the face and the monumental typography of the word HOPE give the whole an iconic and mobilizing dimension. With an aesthetic directly inspired by the codes of twentieth-century visual propaganda and political posters, Fairey succeeds in condensing a historical moment into an instantly recognizable image, which has become a global symbol of change and civic engagement.

Expert opinion

The HOPE poster is a major milestone in Shepard Fairey's career, and more broadly in the history of committed art at the beginning of the 21st century. Rarely has an image derived from urban culture and militant graphic design been so widely distributed, while retaining such strong artistic and symbolic value. In terms of the market, copies signed and dated in pencil occupy a privileged place, as they inscribe the work in a collector's logic that goes beyond its status as a popular icon. This lithograph perfectly illustrates Fairey's ability to fuse art, activism and visual communication, while mastering a formal grammar inherited from constructivism and pop art. It is of undoubted historical, cultural and heritage interest, both for private collections and for institutions interested in the interaction between art and politics.

About the artist

American artist, born in 1970. Lives and works in Los Angeles (USA). Muralist, illustrator and silkscreen artist, Shepard Fairey (Obey) is one of the most influential figures in urban art. Influenced by Andy Warhol, Barbara Kruger and Diego Rivera, he is best known for the HOPE portrait of Barack Obama he created for his presidential campaign in 2008, which has since been acquired by the National Portrait Gallery (Washington, USA). Following the attacks in France on November 13, 2015, Shepard Fairey created a Marianne with the motto "Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité", a work that has now become a national symbol and is on display at the Élysée Palace. In 2019, he will create his hundredth fresco at Place Igor Stravinsky in Paris, next to the Centre Pompidou. Internationally renowned, Shepard Fairey can be found in the collections of the Smithsonian (Washington, USA), the Museum of Modern Art (New York, USA) and the Victoria and Albert Museum (London, UK). He has also exhibited in prestigious venues such as the Fondation Cartier for the "Né dans la rue - Graffiti" exhibition in 2009, and the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston (USA), where his retrospective "Supply & Demand" was organized in 2009.

Additional info

Signed Dated 3x

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