Gauntlet Gallery
What is Shepard Fairey’s piece called “Obey Billboard (Consume) (First Edition)”?
Artist Statement
18 x 24 inch Screen Print. Signed Edition of 450.
Summary
Obey Billboard (Consume) is a 2008 screen print by Shepard Fairey, published by Obey Giant in a signed first edition of 450. Measuring 18 x 24 inches, it presents Fairey's OBEY billboard imagery built around the command "Consume," pairing the recurring OBEY iconography with a blunt critique of consumer culture. The composition uses the artist's signature graphic-poster vocabulary and high-contrast palette to mimic the visual language of advertising and outdoor media, turning the billboard form back on itself. Released July 31, 2008 at an original price of $45, it functions as a commentary on consumerism and corporate power through Fairey's familiar propaganda-style design.
Why It Matters
Obey Billboard (Consume) sits at the heart of Fairey's long-running interrogation of advertising, branding, and the manufactured impulse to buy. By co-opting the billboard, the most aggressive format of commercial persuasion, and stamping it with the single word "Consume," Fairey makes the medium itself the message: the same channels that sell products are repurposed to make viewers conscious of how they are sold to. This aligns with the OBEY project's foundational "Phenomenology" thesis, in which a meaningless command ("OBEY") is used to reveal how readily people absorb authority and advertising. For collectors, the print is a clean distillation of Fairey's consumerism critique, made approachable as a signed edition of 450 at an accessible original price point. It pairs naturally with its companion Obey Billboard (Eye), released the same day, and with the artist's other capitalism-themed works. The piece rewards owners who value Fairey's conceptual side as much as his decorative graphics, demonstrating how he embeds social critique inside imagery that is itself attractive and collectible.
Collector Perspective
This print appeals to collectors who gravitate toward Fairey's anti-consumerist and OBEY-branded work rather than his celebrity portraits. As a signed edition of 450 at an originally modest price, it is an entry-accessible piece that still carries the artist's signature and a clear conceptual hook. It displays well alongside its same-day companion Obey Billboard (Eye), and within a broader grouping of capitalism- and propaganda-themed prints, creating a thematic wall around consumer critique. The bold billboard format and high-contrast palette make it graphically strong from across a room. Buyers building a focused OBEY-iconography or social-commentary collection will find it a coherent, on-message addition rather than a one-off novelty.
Historical Context
Released July 31, 2008, Obey Billboard (Consume) belongs to the productive late-2000s stretch when Fairey was expanding the OBEY brand into pointed cultural critique while simultaneously moving toward mainstream recognition. The billboard motif extends his street-art roots, where outdoor advertising surfaces were both his canvas and his target, into a controlled studio edition. It is one of a paired release with Obey Billboard (Eye) on the same date, reflecting Fairey's frequent practice of issuing companion images that share a format and theme. Positioned within his consumerism-and-power thread, it connects backward to earlier capitalism works and forward to later propaganda-services imagery, marking continuity in the conceptual core of the OBEY enterprise during a pivotal year in the artist's career.
FAQ
What is the edition size of Obey Billboard (Consume)?
It is a signed first edition of 450, published by Obey Giant in 2008. The print measures 18 x 24 inches and was produced as a screen print, with an original release price of $45 on July 31, 2008.
What is the print about?
It builds on Fairey's OBEY billboard imagery around the word "Consume," using the visual language of outdoor advertising to critique consumer culture. The work falls under Fairey's consumerism-and-power theme, turning the persuasive billboard format back on itself.
Does it have a companion print?
Yes. Obey Billboard (Eye) was released the same day, July 31, 2008, as a paired billboard image sharing the same 18 x 24 inch format, signed edition of 450, and consumerism theme, making the two a natural set.
Is the print signed?
Yes. The source describes it as a signed edition of 450. The original release was through Obey Giant in 2008 at a $45 price point. Any further authentication details beyond the signed-edition designation are not specified in the source record.
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.