Gauntlet Gallery
What is Shepard Fairey’s piece called “Overnight Delivery (Retro Show)”?
Artist Statement
Screen Print 18 x 24 inches Edition of 150 $35
Summary
Overnight Delivery (Retro Show) is a 2007 Shepard Fairey screen print published by Obey Giant in a first edition of 150 at 18 x 24 inches. The title ties it to a Retro-themed exhibition, and the design exists in First Edition, Metal, and Retro Show variants. Rendered in Fairey's high-contrast graphic poster style, it sits within his pop-culture and OBEY-related output. The relatively small run of 150 places it among the tighter editions in this group, and its show-tied release frames it as an exhibition-associated print.
Why It Matters
Overnight Delivery (Retro Show) is notable for its connection to a Retro Show exhibition context, which links it to Fairey's practice of issuing prints tied to gallery events and retrospective presentations of his imagery. The existence of First Edition, Metal, and Retro Show variants gives it appeal to collectors who pursue colorway and edition variations of a single design, with the Metal variant in particular offering a distinct material treatment. Because the description is brief, its significance rests on edition structure and exhibition association rather than a detailed narrative, so it is best read as a show-related collectible within Fairey's broader pop-culture and OBEY output. The edition of 150 is comparatively small for the period, lending relative scarcity, and the multiple variants create a built-in collecting axis. For collectors, the draw lies in completing the variant set and in owning an exhibition-tied piece that documents how Fairey packaged his work for gallery and retrospective contexts. It rewards those who value the interplay between his street-derived imagery and its formal presentation in show settings.
Collector Perspective
This print appeals to collectors who value exhibition-tied releases and those who pursue variant sets, given the First Edition, Metal, and Retro Show treatments of a single design. The edition of 150 makes it relatively scarce within the period, attractive to completists. Its 18 x 24 format frames cleanly, and the Metal variant in particular offers a distinctive material option for display. It fits within an OBEY-iconography or pop-culture Fairey grouping and complements other show-tied and pattern prints from the same release window. Collectors building a set around Fairey's gallery and retro-show output will find it a logical inclusion.
Historical Context
Released in March 2007 by Obey Giant, Overnight Delivery (Retro Show) sits within Fairey's Posters and Propaganda era and reflects his practice of producing prints connected to exhibitions and retrospective showings of his imagery. The Retro Show designation and the existence of Metal and First Edition variants point to a release structured around a gallery event. The smaller edition of 150 distinguishes it from the larger runs common in his contemporaneous output. It belongs alongside other show-associated and pop-culture prints of the period, documenting how Fairey adapted his street-derived graphics for formal exhibition presentation during the mid-2000s.
FAQ
What is Overnight Delivery (Retro Show)?
It is a 2007 Shepard Fairey screen print tied to a Retro Show exhibition context, published by Obey Giant in his high-contrast graphic style. The description is brief, so the reading draws on the title, edition structure, and show association.
What variants exist?
The design was produced in First Edition, Metal, and Retro Show variants, giving collectors who pursue variant sets multiple versions of a single design, including a distinct Metal treatment.
What are the edition size and dimensions?
It is a first edition of 150, screen printed at 18 x 24 inches, published by Obey Giant in 2007. The original release price was listed at $35.
Is this print scarce?
With an edition of 150 it is among the smaller runs of the period, giving it relative scarcity compared with Fairey's more common 300-edition prints from the same year.
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.