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Shepard Fairey — Obedience Problems
Shepard Fairey

Obedience Problems

2024

Obedience Problems is a characteristically defiant solo statement from Shepard Fairey, arriving in the Triple Trouble collection as a reminder of the ideological core that has always driven his practice. Executed in his signature combination of stencil, silkscreen, and collage on paper, the work layers visual and textual authority in ways that simultaneously mimic and subvert propaganda, a tension Fairey has cultivated since founding the OBEY movement in the early 1990s. The title is a wry, self-implicating provocation — framing dissent not as heroism but as a diagnostic problem, the kind of language used by institutions to pathologize resistance. The mixed media approach reinforces this message: collage appropriates and recontextualizes existing imagery, while silkscreen and stencil evoke both mass production and underground distribution, the language of both the state and the street. Within the broader collaboration, this piece functions as Fairey's clearest assertion of his own artistic identity, standing apart from his co-created works as an uncompromising reminder of where his practice began.

Medium
Mixed media (stencil, silkscreen and collage) on paper
Dimensions

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Shepard Fairey, Obedience Problems, 2024

Obedience Problems is a characteristically defiant solo statement from Shepard Fairey, arriving in the Triple Trouble collection as a reminder of the ideological core that has always driven his practice. Executed in his signature combination of stencil, silkscreen, and collage on paper, the work layers visual and textual authority in ways that simultaneously mimic and subvert propaganda, a tension Fairey has cultivated since founding the OBEY movement in the early 1990s. The title is a wry, self-implicating provocation — framing dissent not as heroism but as a diagnostic problem, the kind of language used by institutions to pathologize resistance. The mixed media approach reinforces this message: collage appropriates and recontextualizes existing imagery, while silkscreen and stencil evoke both mass production and underground distribution, the language of both the state and the street. Within the broader collaboration, this piece functions as Fairey's clearest assertion of his own artistic identity, standing apart from his co-created works as an uncompromising reminder of where his practice began.

Medium
Mixed media (stencil, silkscreen and collage) on paper
Dimensions
141 x 97.8 cm
Year
2024
Seen at
HENI, London, United Kingdom

Related themes

American Street Art, Subversive Content, Political Message, High Contrast, Graphic Design, Resistance Theme, Bold Typography, Rebellious Mood, 2020s Era, Stencil Silkscreen

More works by Shepard Fairey

Collected by

Alex Capecelatro, Hamilton Selway Gallery