Posters like the one at left have apparently been popping up around Los Angeles and Atlanta. They're shocking, I know, but you have to admit they're devilishly effective. I wonder if the ICA will be giving this artist a retrospective in twenty years. Because frankly, in graphic terms his work is at least as punchy as the Shepard Fairey "Hope" poster, and equally inspired in its pastiche of the proto-fascism of The Dark Knight with "birther" racism (the Joker's whiteface does brilliant double duty here). In short, it's a great poster. So I wonder - will we soon see the emergence of a new, far-right form of "street artist," one that doesn't color within the politically-correct lines of the contemporary art world? I've long been telling Shepard Fairey fans that if they only stripped the politics out of his borrowed imagery, they'd perceive his work very, very differently. Maybe the "Obama Socialism" poster will help them see my point.
Monday, August 3, 2009
Meet the new Shepard Fairey
Posters like the one at left have apparently been popping up around Los Angeles and Atlanta. They're shocking, I know, but you have to admit they're devilishly effective. I wonder if the ICA will be giving this artist a retrospective in twenty years. Because frankly, in graphic terms his work is at least as punchy as the Shepard Fairey "Hope" poster, and equally inspired in its pastiche of the proto-fascism of The Dark Knight with "birther" racism (the Joker's whiteface does brilliant double duty here). In short, it's a great poster. So I wonder - will we soon see the emergence of a new, far-right form of "street artist," one that doesn't color within the politically-correct lines of the contemporary art world? I've long been telling Shepard Fairey fans that if they only stripped the politics out of his borrowed imagery, they'd perceive his work very, very differently. Maybe the "Obama Socialism" poster will help them see my point.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment