Introducing the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation’s ‘Artist as Activist’ Project

This year the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation launches its 'Artist as Activist' print project, based on Bob's history of creating artwork for issues which mattered to him. In carrying on that tradition, RRF has chosen Shepard Fairey to create the inaugural 'Artist as Activist' print. All proceeds will directly benefit the Coalition for the Homeless. A limited edition of 100 signed prints will be available for sale following the event through artnet Auctions.

Photo by Jon Furlong

SHEPARD FAIREY is the man behind OBEY GIANT, the graphics that have changed the way people view art and the urban landscape. What started with a sticker that he created in 1989 while studying at the Rhode Island School of Design has since evolved into a worldwide street art campaign, as well as an acclaimed body of fine art.

The OBEY GIANT campaign is rooted in the DIY counterculture of punk rock and skateboarding, and has taken cues from popular culture, commercial marketing and political messaging. In 2003, Fairey founded Studio Number One, a creative firm dedicated to applying his ethos wherever art and enterprise intersect.

Fairey's art reached a new height of prominence in 2008, when his "HOPE" portrait of Barack Obama became the iconic image of the presidential campaign, and helped inspire an unprecedented political movement. The original image now hangs in the Smithsonian Institution’s National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C.

Fairey has also donated artwork and made contributions to charitable organizations such as the ACLU, MoveOn, Hope for Darfur, the Chiapas Relief Fund, marriage equality reform, 11th Hour Action, Hurricane Katrina relief, the Art of Elysium, Southern California fire relief, shelters for L.A. teens, children’s charities in Iraq and the U.S., Free the West Memphis 3, Feeding America, Adopt-a-Pet.com and the Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation.

As Fairey's body of work reached its 20-year mark in 2009, The Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston honored him with a full-scale solo retrospective, Supply and Demand, which drew a record number of visitors for the museum. The exhibit also made additional runs at the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, PA, and the Center for Contemporary Art in Cincinnati, OH, also breaking attendance records in both museums. In May 2010, Fairey unveiled a new collection of work, entitled MAYDAY, through Deitch Projects as the world-renowned gallery's final project.