Andre gets electrified. Courtesy: The Art Quarterly-Grok
The recently completed Aspen Art Week (July 28th – August 3) featured two significant regional fine art fairs and events related to Aspen’s fine art museum. Aspen is the crossroads for wealth, culture, tourism, architecture, and environmentalism. America’s premier global mountain resort offers sophistication and a unique political climate found in America’s West. This year’s version, just off Main Street, provided an opportunity to transform the “town’s” main gas station.
The station is now home to the street artwork by fashion “mogul” and artist Shepard Fairey. Shepard is perhaps most known for his image appropriation behind President Obama’s first-term “Hope” image. During the DNC 2008 Convention, Fairey’s application of his graffiti wheat paste art on private property landed him and his posse in the host city’s jail.
The cost: publicity. Shepard Fairey continues to further his career with those in America and globally who want to ensure society has a better place to live. He has occupied the hearts of those who desire fresh air, who prefer a shared objective against the “invisible” hand of a greedy government preoccupied with war, corruption, hate, and oppression. His Obama Hope imagery ideally set in motion an emblem that empowered those within congressional halls and ultimately the White House.
Fairey’s success is as much about creative drive as applying Capitalism within a Democracy. To fund his disobedience of applied laws, Fairey has relied on his clothing line, Obey Clothing. His Obey “Giant”, originally defined as a sticker campaign while a student at Rhode Island School of Design, became Shepard’s signature artistic style, marker, and de facto brand identity. On Aspen’s gas station ice boxes, the Obey Giant overlooks like the eyes of Gatsby’s Eckleburg as Chevy Suburbans, Subarus, and Ferrari owners refill for another day in the Roaring Fork valley.
Shepard is just one of many today who have achieved international acclaim, success, and political clout by making an audience question the visual, creative message. Together, facts are consistently distorted to instill change. His symbolism is rooted in questioning authority and breaking laws – effectively being a rebel. Through a love of music and art, he found an audience, millions at that. “Daring” artists like Shepard, Thierry Guetta, (aka Mr.Brainwash) and Banksy, because of the film Exit Through The Gift Shop, garnered more than popularity. The visual message of revolting against authority, regardless of why that authority existed, became the voice of the voiceless. Today, many of the voiceless have become useful idiots roaming major cities and small towns alike.
These artists intentionally ignored facts and created pop culture. They garnered attention not because it was accurate or truthful but because it was fun and “harmless.” They were allowed in a democratic and capitalist society to obtain influence, along with fortune, simply by being creative. At least two have recently sided with misguided, ill-informed actors, celebrities, and politicians as evil, and war has ripped across nations and people like innocent citizens in the Middle East and within Ukraine.
Trying to apply Western standards (tolerance, acceptance, and freedom) to indoctrinated societies willing to embrace barbarism, fanaticism, and religious zealots is where artists like Shepard have become indifferent to humanity. Banksy’s “Walled Off Hotel” in Bethlehem seemed harmless enough. On a West Bank border town wall, one established because the Palestinians refused multiple peace proposals since the 1948 establishment of Israel, Banksy’s art reached international acclaim. “Love is in the Air” (Flower Thrower) ideally was meant, like the hotel, to encourage dialogue essential for the two conflicting sides to find a way towards peace. Since 2003, flowers have been only found at Israeli and Palestinian funerals. As most who rely on facts, Israel’s unilateral withdrawal from Gaza in 2005 did not give way to a fresh start for the residents in GAZA nor the West Bank. Vile hatred festered in the Gaza and West Bank education system, focused only on bombs and rockets, not flowers and prosperity. Like Banksy, Shepard’s desire for a cease-fire superseded the safe return of hostages and acknowledgement of the evil perpetrated by H@mas and supporters emboldened by their October 7th attack: an attack on attendees at the Nova Music Festival and on the kibbutz communities once willing to allow workers from Gaza into their communities.
Embracing an American politician who is a female yet ignoring the hate spewed from that politician’s rhetoric simply for votes is ignorance of Shepard’s own message intended with “Obey.” A few miles down Highway 82 from Shepard’s “One Earth” bird at the gas station/convenience store is a Tesla supercharging station. You can rent bikes or relax at a hotel restaurant as your electric car takes advantage of fast charging intended to move the world away from foreign conflicts. The same Capitalism and freedoms found in Democracies, like America’s, enable commercial viability for fine artists to earn an income. Shepard and others like Banksy have misaligned their messages to embrace anarchy and civil decay. Hopefully, such artists will arise from their deep chill of ignorance. Their own messages about humanity and justice might be a starting point. One thing is certain: Andre the Giant will remain chilled for some time to come in Aspen. To view and collect Shepard Fairey’s works, visit various galleries, including the 212 Gallery of Aspen.
