Gauntlet Gallery
What is Shepard Fairey’s piece called “The Man Who Goes Through Walls”?
Artist Statement
This print is 1 of 4 released at the Subliminal Projects Gallery for "Art Is Not Peace But War" show on April 5, 2008. There were a limited number of matching sets sold by the gallery. The prints are from photographs taken by Sybille Prou (Blek's wife) of his work on the streets. The prints are signed by Blek le Rat, Sybille Prou, and Shepard Fairey.
Summary
The Man Who Goes Through Walls is a 2008 screen print released April 5, 2008 by Subliminal Projects for the "Art Is Not Peace But War" show. Measuring 18 by 24 inches in a First Edition of 100, it is one of four prints made from photographs of Blek le Rat's street work, taken by Sybille Prou. The print is signed by Blek le Rat, Sybille Prou, and Shepard Fairey. The image documents a stenciled street figure and translates Blek's guerrilla wall work into a collectible, three-way-signed gallery edition built around peace and anti-war themes.
Why It Matters
This print sits at a meaningful intersection of two major street art lineages: Blek le Rat, widely cited as a stencil pioneer, and Shepard Fairey, whose OBEY work he influenced. The source confirms it as one of four prints released at Subliminal Projects for the 2008 "Art Is Not Peace But War" show, built from Sybille Prou's photographs of Blek's street pieces and signed by all three figures. That triple signature makes it a documented collaboration rather than a solo Fairey work, which is comparatively uncommon and adds provenance value. With a stated First Edition of only 100, it is the scarcer tier within this release group. For collectors, the appeal is the cross-artist dialogue and the way a fleeting street stencil is preserved as an authored, gallery-issued object. The peace and anti-war framing, reinforced by the show title, situates the piece within Fairey's broader practice of using public imagery to carry social messages. As a small-edition collaboration tied to a specific dated exhibition, it carries clearer historical anchoring than many open-themed prints.
Collector Perspective
This print appeals to collectors who value street art history and cross-artist collaborations rather than only iconic Fairey imagery. The documented signatures of Blek le Rat, Sybille Prou, and Shepard Fairey make it attractive to buyers building a provenance-focused collection or a stencil-lineage grouping. At 18 by 24 inches it frames well as a standalone statement piece or alongside the other three prints from the same April 5, 2008 show, especially for someone assembling a matching set. With a First Edition of 100, it suits collectors who prefer smaller editions and the story behind a specific exhibition. It fits naturally into a peace-and-anti-war or collaboration-themed wall, and rewards owners who appreciate that a transient street stencil has been preserved as a signed, dated gallery edition.
Historical Context
This print belongs to Fairey's late-2000s period, when his Subliminal Projects gallery in Los Angeles regularly hosted shows and collaborative releases. The source ties it directly to the "Art Is Not Peace But War" exhibition on April 5, 2008, one of four prints drawn from Sybille Prou's photographs of Blek le Rat's street work. Blek le Rat is a foundational figure in stencil street art, and this collaboration documents a respectful exchange between an established European stencilist and Fairey's OBEY enterprise. Within Fairey's arc, the piece reflects his role not only as an artist but as a publisher and curator amplifying peers through Subliminal Projects. The peace and anti-war framing aligns with his broader use of art as social commentary during this era, while the triple-signed format marks it as a collaborative, exhibition-specific object rather than part of his core iconographic series.
FAQ
Who signed this print?
According to the source, the print is signed by three people: Blek le Rat, Sybille Prou, and Shepard Fairey. This triple signature reflects its collaborative origin, since the image comes from Prou's photographs of Blek le Rat's street work and was released through Fairey's gallery.
What is the edition size?
The source lists this as a First Edition of 100, published by Subliminal Projects in 2008. A separate HPM version is also noted among the editions, but this listing refers to the screen-print First Edition of 100.
What show was it released for?
The source states it was one of four prints released at the Subliminal Projects Gallery for the "Art Is Not Peace But War" show on April 5, 2008. A limited number of matching sets of all four prints were sold by the gallery.
What are the dimensions and medium?
It is a screen print measuring 18 by 24 inches, released in 2008. These details come directly from the record, which lists the medium as screen print and a published price of 100.
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.