What is Shepard Fairey’s piece called “Peace Woman”?

Artist Statement

18 x 24 inch Screen Print. Edition of 450

Summary

Peace Woman is a 2008 screen print by Shepard Fairey, published by Obey Giant in a First Edition of 450. Measuring 18 x 24 inches, the print centers on a female figure rendered in Fairey's signature stylized portrait manner. The composition carries themes of peace and civil rights, presenting the woman as an emblem of justice and resolve. The work belongs to a wave of 2008 Obey Giant releases that pair bold graphic portraiture with social messaging, using a restrained palette and decorative framing typical of Fairey's print output from this period.

Why It Matters

Peace Woman sits within Shepard Fairey's recurring use of the female figure as a vehicle for messages of peace and civil rights, a thread that runs through much of his Obey Giant output. Released in 2008 at an accessible original price of $45 and an edition of 450, it reflects Fairey's strategy of producing affordable, widely distributed screen prints that put his activist imagery directly into collectors' hands rather than restricting it to galleries. The subject pairs Fairey's instantly recognizable portrait style with a peace-and-justice theme, making it both decorative and pointed. For collectors, works like this matter because they document how Fairey translated political conviction into repeatable graphic language during a prolific year. The piece is not a one-off rarity but part of a consistent body of woman-centered, justice-oriented prints; its significance comes from that continuity and from Fairey's broader role in shaping street-art-derived political poster art. It rewards collectors who value thematic coherence over scarcity, and it connects naturally to his other revolutionary-woman and duality-themed releases from the same era.

Collector Perspective

Peace Woman appeals to collectors who focus on Fairey's woman-centered and peace-and-justice imagery, and to those building a representative set of his 2008 Obey Giant screen prints. At its modest original price point and an edition of 450, it was positioned as an entry-accessible work rather than a trophy piece, which suits newer collectors and those assembling thematic groupings. The 18 x 24 inch format is easy to frame and display, and the bold portrait reads well on a wall alongside other Fairey portraits. It fits collections organized around civil rights, women and leadership, or Fairey's overall print catalog, and pairs especially well with his revolutionary-woman and Zapatista-woman prints for a cohesive female-figure wall grouping.

Historical Context

Peace Woman dates to October 2008, a busy and pivotal year in Shepard Fairey's career that coincided with his rise to wider public prominence. Within his arc, it belongs to the mature Obey Giant screen-print program through which Fairey issued a steady stream of editioned works combining stylized portraiture with social themes. The female figure had by this point become a stable motif in his vocabulary, appearing across multiple releases from 2005 onward, including his revolutionary-woman and Zapatista-woman prints. Peace Woman extends that lineage, applying his decorative portrait framework to a message of peace and justice. It sits comfortably among his 2008 Obey Giant editions, a period defined by prolific output, accessible pricing, and the consolidation of the visual style that made Fairey one of the most recognizable poster artists of his generation.

FAQ

Related Works

Revolutionary Woman With Brush2007 · Another woman-centered Fairey print on the civil rights and justice theme, close in date and subject.

Zapatista Woman (First Edition)2005 · Earlier revolutionary-woman portrait that establishes the female-figure motif Peace Woman continues.

Revolution Woman2005 · Companion woman-as-emblem-of-resistance print sharing the same justice theme.

Duality Of Humanity 12008 · Same-year 2008 Obey Giant release on civil rights and justice, part of the surrounding edition wave.

Duality Of Humanity 42008 · 2008 Obey Giant print issued weeks later, overlapping civil rights themes and edition of 450.

Vivi La Revolucion2008 · Adjacent 2008 Obey Giant screen print with revolutionary subject matter and identical edition size.