Gauntlet Gallery
What is Shepard Fairey’s piece called “Public Works Medal”?
Artist Statement
PUBLIC WORKS MEDAL Screen Print 18 x 24 inches Edition of 300
Summary
Public Works Medal is a 2004 Shepard Fairey screen print published by Obey Giant as a first edition of 300, measuring 18 x 24 inches and originally priced at $30. The work adopts the iconography of an official medal or emblem, rendered in Fairey's flat, high-contrast graphic style. Its medal-and-bureaucracy motif fits the propaganda-poster vocabulary that runs through his mid-2000s Obey Giant output, playing on the visual authority of state insignia. As a first-edition 18-by-24 screen print, it sits within his prolific 2004 run while leaning into emblematic, official-looking design rooted in his "public works" theme.
Why It Matters
Public Works Medal plays on the visual language of official insignia, medals, seals, and bureaucratic emblems, that Fairey repeatedly co-opted to mimic and gently satirize institutional authority. By styling an image as an awarded medal under the heading of "public works," the print taps the OBEY project's core gambit: borrowing the look of power and propaganda to question how authority is constructed and conferred. It relates closely to his Bureau Of Public Works imagery, suggesting a small thematic cluster within his 2004 output organized around faux-official civic branding. For collectors, these emblem-driven prints are appealing because they distill Fairey's central conceptual move, the appropriation of propaganda aesthetics, into a single graphic device. The first edition of 300 and original $30 price kept it accessible. It appears to align with the manufactured-authority logic that runs from his earliest Andre the Giant stickers, which deployed a meaningless command to obey, through his mature propaganda-style work. Its significance rests on that conceptual clarity: it is a compact example of how Fairey turns the trappings of officialdom into self-aware design, rewarding collectors who value the ideas behind the OBEY brand as much as its imagery.
Collector Perspective
This print appeals to collectors who prize the conceptual core of Fairey's OBEY project, his play on manufactured authority and faux-official insignia, over portrait or music subjects. Its medal-and-bureaucracy motif pairs naturally with the related Bureau Of Public Works imagery, making it a strong anchor for a thematic sub-grouping. At 18 x 24 inches in a first edition of 300, it frames cleanly and slots into a grid of 2004 prints. Its accessible original price made it an approachable acquisition, and it fits collections organized around OBEY iconography, propaganda aesthetics, or the 2004 run. Display impact is highest alongside Fairey's other emblem and seal designs, where the shared visual logic of borrowed officialdom becomes legible across the wall.
Historical Context
Public Works Medal dates to 2004 and belongs to Fairey's Posters and Propaganda phase, when he issued many 18-by-24 first-edition screen prints under Obey Giant. The print extends the OBEY project's foundational strategy of co-opting the visual language of authority, an approach Fairey developed from his late-1980s Andre the Giant sticker campaign, which paired an image with the command to obey to expose how propaganda manufactures consent. Its medal-and-public-works motif relates to his Bureau Of Public Works imagery, forming a thematic cluster around faux-civic branding. The era precedes his 2008 national breakthrough. Within his arc, the print documents how he distilled his appropriation of institutional aesthetics into emblematic, self-aware graphic design.
FAQ
What does this print depict?
Public Works Medal adopts the look of an official medal or emblem, styling civic insignia in Fairey's flat graphic vocabulary. It plays on the visual authority of state-issued awards and relates to his Bureau Of Public Works imagery, falling within his 2004 Collaborations and pop culture output.
What are the size and edition?
It is an 18 x 24 inch screen print published by Obey Giant as a first edition of 300. That standard format and edition size are consistent with Fairey's mid-2000s releases, keeping the work accessible while remaining a defined limited edition.
What was the original price?
The source lists an original price of $30, reflecting Obey Giant's accessibility-first release model. That low price helped Fairey's emblem-driven prints reach a broad collector base at the time of their release.
How does it connect to Fairey's other work?
It pairs with his Bureau Of Public Works imagery as part of a thematic cluster around faux-official civic branding. The print extends the OBEY project's core strategy of borrowing the aesthetics of authority and propaganda to question how institutional power presents itself.
Related Works
About the Artist
Shepard Fairey (b. 1970, Charleston, South Carolina) is an American street artist, graphic designer, and activist, and a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design. His 1989 “André the Giant Has a Posse” sticker grew into the global OBEY GIANT campaign — an ongoing experiment in propaganda, obedience, and visual culture. He reached worldwide recognition with the 2008 “Hope” portrait of Barack Obama, now held by the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery. Across screen prints, stencils, murals, and collage, Fairey channels propaganda aesthetics toward themes of peace, justice, environmentalism, and civil rights. His work is in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, the Victoria & Albert Museum, and LACMA.