Gauntlet Gallery
What is Shepard Fairey’s piece called “Obey Collage Girl”?
Artist Statement
OBEY COLLAGE GIRL Screen Print 18 x 24 inches Edition of 300
Summary
Obey Collage Girl is a 2005 screen print by Shepard Fairey, published by Obey Giant in an edition of 300 at 18 x 24 inches. As the title indicates, it combines a female figure with collaged layers of OBEY iconography and graphic elements, blending portraiture with the dense, layered visual texture characteristic of Fairey's propaganda-inflected design. The source notes themes of pop culture and consumerism/power, situating it among works that critique imagery and authority. Descriptive detail beyond the specs is limited.
Why It Matters
Obey Collage Girl unites two of Fairey's signature modes: the female figure and the collage technique that layers OBEY marks, patterns, and propaganda motifs into a single dense surface. The source tags it with both pop culture and consumerism/power, signaling that the work operates as more than a portrait, it engages Fairey's recurring critique of how imagery, branding, and authority are constructed and consumed. For collectors, the piece is a compact example of his design language at full strength: a recognizable figure embedded in a field of manufactured iconography. Released in 2005 as a 300-piece screen print at an accessible price, it offered an affordable way to own a layered, design-rich Fairey rather than a single clean portrait. In a database it matters as a representative of his collage practice and his ongoing interrogation of consumer imagery, themes that run through his OBEY project from its origins. The combination of a female subject with the consumerism-and-power theme also makes it a useful data point for collectors tracking how Fairey deploys figures within his propaganda-aesthetic system. Because the source description is sparse, interpretation stays grounded in the supplied theme signals.
Collector Perspective
This print appeals to collectors who favor Fairey's dense, collage-driven design over his cleaner single-subject portraits, and to those interested in his consumerism-and-power critique. The layered OBEY iconography rewards close viewing, giving it strong display presence for collectors who enjoy detail. At 18 x 24 inches it frames easily and works within a grouping of Obey-iconography pieces. The edition of 300 keeps it accessible to newer buyers. It fits a collection emphasizing Fairey's graphic-design and propaganda-aesthetic work, and pairs naturally with other Obey-branded editions from the period.
Historical Context
Obey Collage Girl dates to 2005, within Fairey's run of accessible 300-piece Obey Giant screen prints preceding his 2008 mainstream breakthrough. It reflects the collage methodology central to his practice, layering the OBEY mark and propaganda motifs around a figure, and ties to his long-running critique of consumer imagery and constructed authority. The work belongs to his mid-2000s OBEY-iconography output, demonstrating how he sustained the conceptual core of the OBEY project, manufactured imagery and obedience, while producing collectible editions during this period.
FAQ
What is Obey Collage Girl?
It is a 2005 screen print by Shepard Fairey, published by Obey Giant, measuring 18 x 24 inches in an edition of 300. As the title suggests, it combines a female figure with collaged OBEY iconography and graphic elements.
What themes does it engage?
The source lists pop culture as the primary theme and consumerism and power as secondary, connecting the work to Fairey's ongoing critique of constructed imagery and authority. Beyond these signals and the title, the source provides limited descriptive detail.
What are the edition and dimensions?
It was issued as a first edition of 300 screen prints at 18 x 24 inches, published by Obey Giant in 2005 with an original price of $30. That edition size places it among his more available mid-2000s releases.
Who collects this print?
It suits collectors who prefer Fairey's layered, collage-driven design and his consumerism-and-power critique over his simpler portraits, and it complements other Obey-iconography editions from the same era.
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.