Gauntlet Gallery
What is Shepard Fairey’s piece called “Big Brother City”?
Artist Statement
BIG BROTHER CITY Screen Print 18 x 24 inches Edition of 350 $35
Summary
Big Brother City is a 2007 screen print by Shepard Fairey, published by Obey Giant in a first edition of 350 at 18 x 24 inches. Drawing on Orwellian surveillance imagery, the print extends Fairey's long-running Big Brother motif into an urban setting, using his characteristic high-contrast graphic style. The work visualizes themes of watching, control, and the modern city as a space of monitored life. Released at an accessible original price, it belongs to Fairey's recurring series of surveillance-critical images that question authority and the apparatus of observation.
Why It Matters
Big Brother City is part of one of Fairey's most enduring conceptual threads: the Big Brother surveillance motif borrowed from Orwell's 1984. This 2007 print matters because it locates that critique within the city itself, framing the urban environment as a zone of constant observation. The Big Brother imagery is foundational to Fairey's OBEY project, which from its origins has used the watchful face and the command to 'obey' as a commentary on propaganda, authority, and passive consumption. By extending the motif into a city scene, this edition connects the abstract warning about surveillance to the lived experience of public space, where cameras and signage increasingly mediate daily life. For collectors, the print sits within a clearly identifiable lineage that includes Big Brother Is Watching, Big Brother 2, Big Brother Profile, and Big Brother Collage, making it a meaningful node in a collectible sub-series. Its edition of 350 keeps it within reach while still being a focused, theme-defining piece. The surveillance critique has only grown more topical with time, giving the work sustained cultural relevance and making it a strong representative of Fairey's politically pointed graphic practice.
Collector Perspective
This print speaks to collectors who gravitate toward Fairey's conceptual and political side, especially the surveillance and authority themes central to OBEY. It is a natural acquisition for anyone assembling a Big Brother sub-collection, slotting in alongside Big Brother Is Watching, Big Brother 2, and Big Brother Profile to trace how Fairey reworked the motif over time. The 18 x 24 inch format is easy to frame and group, and the high-contrast graphic reads strongly on a wall. With an edition of 350, it remains accessible to collectors building a thematic set rather than chasing the rarest variants, while still carrying the conceptual weight that distinguishes Fairey's most recognizable imagery.
Historical Context
Big Brother City fits within Fairey's mid-2000s Obey Giant output, a period of regular signed editions that deepened the conceptual vocabulary established by his earlier street work. The Big Brother motif traces back to the foundations of the OBEY project, where Orwellian surveillance imagery underpinned Fairey's critique of propaganda and obedience. By 2007 he was revisiting and recontextualizing these core symbols in new compositions, and the urban framing here reflects his continued interest in how authority operates within public space. The print belongs to a recurring family of Big Brother images spanning from the late 1990s and early 2000s through later editions, demonstrating how Fairey returned to and refined signature themes across his career rather than abandoning them.
FAQ
What is Big Brother City?
It is a 2007 screen print by Shepard Fairey, published by Obey Giant as a first edition of 350 at 18 x 24 inches. The work extends Fairey's Big Brother surveillance motif into an urban setting, using his high-contrast graphic style to comment on watching and control.
How big is the edition and the print?
Big Brother City measures 18 x 24 inches and was issued in a first edition of 350 by Obey Giant in 2007. Its original release price was $35, placing it among Fairey's accessible mid-2000s screen-print editions.
What does the Big Brother imagery mean?
The Big Brother motif derives from Orwell's 1984 and is central to Fairey's OBEY project, critiquing surveillance, propaganda, and obedience. In this print the theme is set within a city, framing the urban environment as a space of constant observation and authority.
Does it relate to other Fairey prints?
Yes. It belongs to a recurring Big Brother family that includes Big Brother Is Watching, Big Brother 2, Big Brother Profile, and Big Brother Collage, as well as the later Covert To Overt Big Brother edition, all exploring surveillance themes.
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.