Gauntlet Gallery
What is Shepard Fairey’s piece called “Rock The Vote”?
Artist Statement
The past couple of years have been great if you are into in wars, recession, and the re-election of idiotic leaders! Well, if you aren’t then you already know that this years Presidential Election is an important one – Maybe one of the most significant in U.S history . We are trying to do our part in making some changes and looking into a brighter future for our children… Yup, thats right, our children. But thats another story so I digress… To help keep the political activism and climate charged (as if the OBAMAmenon wasn’t enough), Shepard was asked by the Rock The Vote Organization to help get some voter registration awareness out there. Shepard created this design and printed up some limited edition prints. Some of the prints were given directly to the RTV organization and the others are being release here on July 1st. They are an edition of 350 and $35 each.
Summary
Rock The Vote is a 2008 Shepard Fairey screen print published by Obey Giant, measuring 18 x 24 inches in an edition of 350, priced at $35. Fairey created the design at the request of the Rock The Vote organization to raise voter-registration awareness ahead of the 2008 U.S. presidential election. Some prints were given directly to Rock The Vote, while the remainder were released on the Obey Giant site beginning July 1, 2008. The work reflects Fairey's voting-and-democracy themes during a pivotal election year.
Why It Matters
Rock The Vote is a clear expression of Fairey's civic engagement, made in direct partnership with the Rock The Vote organization to spur voter registration during the 2008 presidential campaign, a contest the source frames as among the most significant in U.S. history. It belongs to the same charged political moment as Fairey's celebrated Obama imagery, and the description explicitly nods to the surrounding 'OBAMAmenon,' situating the print at the center of his most influential year. For collectors, that timing matters: 2008 marks the period when Fairey's political art reached unprecedented cultural reach, and a voter-mobilization piece tied to a recognized organization captures that energy directly. The collaboration also gives the work documented civic purpose rather than abstract messaging, since some prints went straight to the organization to support its outreach. Issued in an edition of 350 at an accessible $35, it balanced collectibility with the democratic, get-the-message-out ethos of the cause. The combination of a pivotal-election context, a real advocacy partnership, and Fairey's recognizable voting-and-democracy theme makes Rock The Vote a meaningful artifact of his activist practice and the broader 2008 political moment.
Collector Perspective
This print draws collectors interested in Fairey's political and pro-democracy work, especially pieces connected to the watershed 2008 election. Its partnership with the Rock The Vote organization gives it documented civic purpose and a strong story, appealing to those who collect activist art with real-world impact. The bold 18 x 24 graphic reads clearly on a wall and pairs well with other Fairey political prints from the era. At an edition of 350 and an original $35 price, it is relatively attainable, making it a practical and historically resonant addition for anyone building a collection around Fairey's democracy-and-voting themes.
Historical Context
Released July 1, 2008, Rock The Vote arrives during the defining year of Fairey's career, when his political imagery, most famously his Obama work, achieved broad cultural impact. Made at the request of the Rock The Vote organization, the print channels his street-art-rooted activism into a formal voter-registration campaign tied to the 2008 presidential election. The source places it amid the heightened political climate it references as the 'OBAMAmenon.' By directing some prints straight to the organization, Fairey linked his collectible output to direct civic action, exemplifying how he used art as a tool for mobilization during this pivotal moment in his arc as a political artist.
FAQ
Who commissioned Rock The Vote?
The Rock The Vote organization asked Fairey to help raise voter-registration awareness ahead of the 2008 presidential election. He created the design and printed a limited edition, giving some prints directly to the organization and releasing the rest on Obey Giant on July 1, 2008.
What is the edition size and price?
It is an edition of 350, priced at $35 each. The work is an 18 x 24 inch screen print published by Obey Giant in 2008, created to support voter-registration outreach during the election year.
What is the print's purpose?
It was made to promote voter registration and civic engagement during the 2008 U.S. presidential election, which the record describes as one of the most significant in U.S. history. Some prints supported the Rock The Vote organization's outreach directly.
When was it released?
The prints were released on the Obey Giant site on July 1, 2008, in an edition of 350 at $35 each, after a portion had been provided directly to the Rock The Vote organization.
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.