Shepard Fairey on Plagiarism

To say that Shepard Fairey is a plagiarist, is to that Space Balls plagiarized Star Wars. He is making a parodical statement to a particular genre of vintage propaganda and relating it to modern day political controversies. Anyone who was to read Fairey's words would realize that in the particular pieces in question, he is blatantly and openly referencing popular instances and styles of propaganda throughout the history of graphic design while making it his own by adding his well known graphic style. While it is true he has created several pieces in which this is the prevalent means of communication with the viewer, people neglect to realize that Fairey does also create original, thought provoking examples of graphic design and illustration. Regardless of rising opinions about the validity of his work, Fairey has developed a seamless personal style that is instantly recognizable throughout the world. It is undoubtable that Fairey has gained what seems like overnight fame in the art world largely due to his subculture following and of course the Obama Campaign poster from the 2008 election.

My project will be focused on plagiarism vs. appropriating.
When does it cross the line?

I started off by focusing on the plagiarism conflict of S.F. After reading an art critique by artist, Mark Vallen I was able to see the side of people/or creatives having a problem with what he has made a living off of. I collected photos of his work, and work that some people think he has ripped off. S.F. calls it 'referencing'.


WORKS by Shepard Fairey and ones some think
hes plagiarised/appropriated/referenced (take your pick):



Right: Ranger Naturalist Service: Yellowstone National Park - Artist unknown.
Silkscreen. Circa late 1930s. Created for the Works Progress Administration (WPA)
in order to promote travel to America's national parks.





Left: Black Panther - Pirkle Jones. Photograph. 1968. Portrait of an anonymous
Panther at a political rally in Oakland, California. The Panther photos of Ruth-Marion
Baruch and Pirkle Jones are internationally famous and have long been available in book form.





Right: Original street poster from Czechoslovakia’s, Prague Spring - Artist unknown 1968.
The poster depicts a Soviet Red Army soldier in 1945 as a liberator, then as an oppressor in 1968.







Left: Political power comes from the barrel of a gun - Artist unknown. 1968.
Chinese poster from the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution period.
The title of this poster quotes the famous pronouncement made by Mao Tse-Tung.




Left: Meeting - Vladimir Kozlinsky. Linocut. 1919. Kozlinsky’s depiction of workers
listening to a revolutionary agitator. Right: Have You Volunteered? - Dmitry Moor.
Famous recruitment poster for the Soviet Red Army. 1920.
Middle: Shepard Fairey's Works.




Left: Still from director Michael Anderson’s 1956 film adaptation of
George Orwell’s cautionary story of a dystopic future, 1984.



QUOTES collected on S.F. plagiarising:

His imagery appears as though it's xeroxed or run through somecomputer graphics program; that is to say, it is machine art that anysecond-rate art student could produce.

In fact, I've never seen any evidence indicating Fairey can draw at all.

It's not surprising such pointless twaddle passes for a weightyaesthetic statement of purpose - these days any amateur with aminimally written crackpot manifesto can make waves in the world ofart - but I still can't imagine a more juvenile-soundingrationalization for an art project, especially when current conditionscry out for art that is socially engaged and introspective.

When a will to plagiarize and a love for self-promotion are the onlyrequirements necessary for becoming an artist, then clearly the artsare in deep trouble.

The expropriation and reuse of images in art has today reached soaringheights, but that relentless mining and distortion of history willturn out to be detrimental for art, leaving it hollowed-out andmeaningless in the process.



NEXT EXPERIENCE:
Research on people/artists who think Fairey is "appropriating" or has S.F. thinks of it as "referencing".