Gauntlet Gallery
What is Shepard Fairey’s piece called “World Influence”?
Artist Statement
WORLD INFLUENCE Screen Print 18 x 24 inches Edition of 100
Summary
World Influence is a 1998 Shepard Fairey screen print, published by Obey Giant in a first edition of 100, measuring 18 x 24 inches. The work belongs to Fairey's early Obey Giant output, drawing on his recurring vocabulary of appropriated propaganda-style imagery and the Andre the Giant-derived iconography. The source provides the title, year, medium, dimensions, and edition size but no extended description of the composition, so the visual concept is documented only by its title and its placement within Fairey's late-1990s screen-print run. It is a small-format, hand-pulled screen print from the period when the Obey project was consolidating its visual identity.
Why It Matters
World Influence sits inside the formative window when Shepard Fairey was turning the Andre the Giant sticker phenomenon into a deliberate body of editioned fine-art prints. Works from 1997-1999, hand-pulled in editions of 100, are the foundation layer of the Obey Giant catalogue, and they document how Fairey adapted the look of state propaganda and commercial advertising into a recognizable personal language. A title like World Influence appears to align with the project's central preoccupation: how images, slogans, and brands propagate power and shape public attention. For collectors building a chronological view of Fairey's career, early first editions like this one carry outsized importance because they predate his later mainstream recognition and were produced in far smaller quantities than his post-2008 releases. The edition of 100 places it among the scarcer tiers of his output. Because the supplied record gives no description of the imagery, its broader cultural readings should be treated cautiously, but its position in the 1998 cohort and its small edition make it a meaningful early-period acquisition rather than a routine reprint.
Collector Perspective
This print appeals to collectors who focus on the earliest, scarcest layer of the Obey Giant catalogue rather than the more available later releases. Buyers drawn to it tend to value chronology, edition scarcity, and the documentary role of the 1997-1999 screen prints in establishing Fairey's identity. At 18 x 24 inches it is a manageable, frameable size that pairs naturally with other late-1990s first editions to build a coherent early-period grouping. With an edition of just 100, it fits a connoisseur-oriented collection more than a decorative one, and it sits comfortably alongside related Obey works of the same era such as Cop, Che, and Stalin for a thematically and visually unified wall.
Historical Context
World Influence dates to 1998, part of the run of small-edition screen prints Fairey produced through Obey Giant in the late 1990s. This period follows the 1989 origins of the Andre the Giant sticker campaign and represents the phase when Fairey was formalizing that street project into a studio practice of numbered, hand-pulled editions. The works of this era predate Fairey's broad public breakthrough and his later large-scale political imagery; they are where his propaganda-derived graphic vocabulary was codified. An edition of 100 is typical of his output from these years and reflects the comparatively limited distribution of his work before wider demand emerged in the following decade.
FAQ
When was World Influence made and who published it?
World Influence was created in 1998 and published by Obey Giant, Shepard Fairey's own imprint. It belongs to the run of late-1990s screen prints he produced as he formalized the Obey project into a studio practice of numbered editions.
What are the dimensions and edition size?
The print measures 18 x 24 inches and was issued as a first edition of 100. This relatively small edition places it among the scarcer tiers of Fairey's output, since his later releases were often produced in larger quantities.
What medium is it?
It is a hand-pulled screen print, the medium Fairey used throughout his early Obey Giant editions. Screen printing gives these works their flat, graphic, propaganda-poster character.
Why do collectors seek early Obey first editions like this?
Works from 1997-1999 are the foundation layer of the Obey Giant catalogue. They predate Fairey's mainstream recognition, were produced in far smaller numbers than his later prints, and document how he built his signature graphic language.
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.