Gauntlet Gallery
What is Shepard Fairey’s piece called “Warhol”?
Artist Statement
WARHOL Screen Print 18 x 24 inches Edition of 300 $30
Summary
Warhol is a 2005 Shepard Fairey screen print, published by Obey Giant in a First Edition of 300 and measuring 18 x 24 inches, with a listed price of $30. It portrays Andy Warhol, the pop-art pioneer whose ideas about images, repetition, and celebrity deeply influenced Fairey's own practice. Rendered in Fairey's graphic portrait style with a photographic base and bold flat color, the print is a tribute to a key artistic forebear. As a mid-2000s Obey Giant edition, it sits among his portraits of cultural and artistic icons.
Why It Matters
Warhol is a pointed act of homage: by portraying the artist who pioneered pop art's engagement with mass imagery, celebrity, and reproduction, Fairey acknowledges a direct influence on his own visual strategy. Warhol's silkscreen portraits and his blurring of art and commerce prefigure exactly the territory Fairey works in, making this print a kind of lineage statement. For collectors, the appeal is layered, it is both a strong graphic portrait and a meta-commentary on the artistic tradition Fairey inherits. The source notes a $30 release price, edition of 300, and even flags a secondary peace-and-antiwar theme, situating it among Fairey's culturally and politically aware portraits. The portrait format and 18 x 24 size make it a versatile display piece, while the subject's towering stature in art history broadens its appeal well beyond OBEY collectors. Because the record supplies year, edition, dimensions, medium, and price, the facts are relatively complete, and the interpretive weight comes from Warhol's role as a foundational influence, making this one of the more conceptually resonant portraits in Fairey's mid-2000s catalog.
Collector Perspective
Warhol appeals to collectors who appreciate Fairey's dialogue with art history and to fans of Andy Warhol and pop art more broadly. At 18 x 24 inches in an edition of 300, it is accessible, and the portrait reads as both a striking wall piece and a knowing nod to Fairey's artistic lineage. It groups well with his other icon portraits and with works that engage cultural commentary. Because Warhol is such a recognizable figure, the print carries appeal beyond dedicated OBEY collectors, making it a versatile addition to a collection that spans pop art and street art. It rewards owners who value the conceptual connection between Fairey and his influences.
Historical Context
Warhol dates to 2005, in the mid-2000s phase after Fairey's 1989 Andre the Giant sticker campaign, when Obey Giant was issuing regular portraits of cultural and artistic icons. Portraying Andy Warhol places Fairey in explicit dialogue with the pop-art tradition, Warhol's silkscreen celebrity portraits and merging of art with commerce directly anticipate Fairey's own methods. Released before his 2008 Obama "Hope" breakthrough, the print belongs to the propaganda-and-posters phase when his portrait vocabulary was fully developed. The source's $30 release price and secondary peace-and-antiwar tag reflect the accessible, message-aware character of his mid-2000s editions, and the homage underscores how deliberately Fairey positioned himself within a lineage of image-makers.
FAQ
Who is depicted and why does it matter?
It portrays Andy Warhol, the pop-art pioneer whose work with mass imagery, celebrity, and silkscreen reproduction directly influenced Fairey's own practice. The print functions as homage to a foundational forebear and as a statement of Fairey's artistic lineage.
When was it released and at what price?
The record lists a 2005 release by Obey Giant as a First Edition screen print in an edition of 300, with a $30 release price noted in the source description. That makes the original facts relatively complete for this print.
What are the dimensions and medium?
It is a screen print measuring 18 x 24 inches, as stated in the record, rendered in Fairey's portrait style with a photographic base and bold flat color.
Does it carry any additional themes?
The source flags a secondary peace-and-antiwar theme alongside its primary pop-culture theme, situating the Warhol portrait among Fairey's culturally and politically aware mid-2000s works rather than as a simple celebrity image.
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.