Gauntlet Gallery
What is Shepard Fairey’s piece called “Yen Pattern (Black / Red)”?
Artist Statement
Screen Print 18 x 24 inches Edition of 50
Summary
Yen Pattern (Black / Red) is a 2007 screen print, 18 x 24 inches, in a small edition of 50, published by Obey Giant at $35. It is one colorway within a multi-variant Yen Pattern release that also includes black, gold, red, and combined-color editions. The work applies Fairey's decorative, repeating-pattern approach to the yen currency symbol, blending ornamental design with a motif drawn from money and global economics. The source supplies title, medium, dimensions, edition size, price, and the full list of available colorways.
Why It Matters
Yen Pattern (Black / Red) stands out chiefly for its small edition of 50, a notably tighter run than the editions of 300 common among Fairey's 2007 screen prints. That scarcity, documented in the source, makes this colorway more limited than many of its contemporaries. The print also exemplifies Fairey's pattern-based, decorative mode, here organized around the yen symbol, which folds money and global economics into his ornamental visual vocabulary. By turning a currency emblem into repeating decoration, the work gestures at the omnipresence of finance while remaining a design-forward object rather than an overt protest piece. For collectors, the combination of a recognizable economic motif and a genuinely small edition is the draw. The source lists numerous colorways, including black, gold, red, and combinations, which makes the Yen Pattern a natural target for variant collecting, and this black-and-red version one of several to pursue. Within Fairey's catalog it represents the more ornamental, pattern-driven side of his output, where the message is embedded in surface and repetition rather than confrontation, and where small editions reward focused collectors.
Collector Perspective
This print appeals to collectors who favor Fairey's decorative, pattern-driven work and who are motivated by genuinely small editions. With only 50 in this colorway per the source, it is scarcer than many of his 2007 releases, which raises its interest for collectors seeking tighter runs. The yen-symbol motif suits those drawn to economic and monetary themes rendered ornamentally. Because the source lists multiple colorways, including black, gold, red, and combinations, variant collectors may pursue the full Yen Pattern set, with this black-and-red version one piece of it. At 18 x 24 inches and an accessible original $35 price, it groups easily with other Obey Giant prints while offering the added appeal of low edition size.
Historical Context
Yen Pattern (Black / Red) dates to May 2007, within Fairey's prolific mid-2000s screen-print period. It belongs to the ornamental, pattern-based strand of his work, applying his decorative repetition to a currency symbol and thereby engaging money and global economics through design. The release exists in numerous colorways, per the source, reflecting Fairey's frequent practice of issuing a single pattern across multiple palettes, here in an unusually small edition of 50 per variant. This situates the print in the Posters and Propaganda era as an example of his more design-driven, less overtly confrontational output, where economic motifs are absorbed into surface pattern rather than stated as direct protest.
FAQ
What is Yen Pattern (Black / Red)?
It is a 2007 screen print by Shepard Fairey, published by Obey Giant, measuring 18 by 24 inches in an edition of 50 at an original price of $35. It applies Fairey's repeating-pattern style to the yen currency symbol and is the black-and-red colorway of a multi-variant release.
How small is the edition?
This colorway was issued in an edition of just 50, per the source. That is notably smaller than the editions of 300 common among Fairey's 2007 screen prints, making this version more limited than many of its contemporaries.
What other colorways exist?
The source lists several, including black, black/gold, black/red, gold, red, and red/gold. This makes the Yen Pattern a natural target for variant collectors, with the black-and-red version one of multiple editions in the series.
What theme does the print engage?
It centers on the yen currency symbol, folding money and global economics into Fairey's ornamental, pattern-based design. Rather than a direct protest image, it embeds an economic motif into decorative repetition, characteristic of the more design-driven side of his output.
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.