
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
For Sale
More by Shepard Fairey
Collectors of Shepard Fairey
Also spotted by


Start the Discussion
Request access to join the discussion