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Shepard Fairey — AR-15 Lily
Shepard Fairey

AR-15 Lily

2022

AR-15 Lily stands as one of Shepard Fairey's most provocative interventions into the ongoing American debate around gun culture and the natural world, merging the iconography of violence with the delicate beauty of a flower. Executed in 3D-printed polylactic acid, the work embraces contemporary fabrication technology as both medium and message — PLA, a biodegradable plastic, introduces themes of environmental tension and impermanence that cut against the enduring lethality of the AR-15. Fairey's signature bold graphic sensibility translates seamlessly into the sculptural form, echoing the flat, high-contrast visual language of his OBEY campaign while pushing it into three-dimensional space. The juxtaposition of the lily — a symbol of purity, mourning, and rebirth — with one of America's most politically charged firearms creates a loaded cultural statement rooted in Fairey's long history of using propaganda aesthetics to challenge power structures. Within the Triple Trouble collaboration, this piece anchors Fairey's contribution as a meditation on American contradictions, extending the street art tradition of occupying contested public symbols into the gallery space.

Medium
3D-printed polylactic acid
Dimensions

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About this work

Shepard Fairey, AR-15 Lily, 2022

AR-15 Lily stands as one of Shepard Fairey's most provocative interventions into the ongoing American debate around gun culture and the natural world, merging the iconography of violence with the delicate beauty of a flower. Executed in 3D-printed polylactic acid, the work embraces contemporary fabrication technology as both medium and message — PLA, a biodegradable plastic, introduces themes of environmental tension and impermanence that cut against the enduring lethality of the AR-15. Fairey's signature bold graphic sensibility translates seamlessly into the sculptural form, echoing the flat, high-contrast visual language of his OBEY campaign while pushing it into three-dimensional space. The juxtaposition of the lily — a symbol of purity, mourning, and rebirth — with one of America's most politically charged firearms creates a loaded cultural statement rooted in Fairey's long history of using propaganda aesthetics to challenge power structures. Within the Triple Trouble collaboration, this piece anchors Fairey's contribution as a meditation on American contradictions, extending the street art tradition of occupying contested public symbols into the gallery space.

Medium
3D-printed polylactic acid
Dimensions
305 x 183 x 183 cm
Year
2022
Seen at
HENI, London, United Kingdom

Related themes

Nature Contrast, Provocative Mood, 3D Printing, Sculptural Art, 2020s, American Artist, Political Commentary, Contemporary Art, Gun Control, Hybrid Form

More works by Shepard Fairey

Collected by

Alex Capecelatro, Hamilton Selway Gallery