Gauntlet Gallery
What is Shepard Fairey’s piece called “Bayshore Billboard”?
Artist Statement
I’m illustrating some of my favorite street spots from over the years to be included in the LA MOCA “Art In The Streets” show, so I decided to make prints of some of my favorites. This one is from Bayshore Blvd. in San Francisco around 2003. Photo by Mark the Cobra Snake. The silhouette is some random lackey I hired because I don’t do street art myself. -Shepard 18 x 24? Screen Print, $45, Edition of 450, Limit 1 per person / household. Signed by Shepard Fairey. Release date: 3/10/2011
Summary
Bayshore Billboard is a 2011 Shepard Fairey screen print published by Obey Giant, measuring 18 by 24 inches, in an edition of 450 at $45, signed by Shepard Fairey and released March 10, 2011, with a limit of one per person per household. The print illustrates one of Fairey's favorite street spots, a site on Bayshore Blvd. in San Francisco around 2003, based on a photo by Mark the Cobra Snake. Fairey made it in connection with the LA MOCA "Art In The Streets" show, depicting a silhouetted figure at the billboard site. The work documents his street-art history in his graphic print format.
Why It Matters
Bayshore Billboard matters as a piece of Fairey's own street-art memory, made to accompany the landmark LA MOCA "Art In The Streets" exhibition. Rather than a portrait or slogan, it documents a specific San Francisco location, Bayshore Blvd. around 2003, where he worked, translating the ephemeral act of street installation into a permanent collectible print. That self-documentary impulse connects the gallery world to his guerrilla roots, and the museum-show context gives the print institutional significance. Fairey's wry statement, crediting photographer Mark the Cobra Snake and joking that the silhouette is "some random lackey I hired because I don't do street art myself," adds personality and underscores the playful self-mythology around his public work. At an edition of 450, signed, with a one-per-household limit, it is a contained release tied to a notable exhibition moment. For collectors, the appeal lies in its documentation of Fairey's street practice and its link to a major museum survey of street art, making it a meaningful artifact of public-art history within his catalog.
Collector Perspective
Bayshore Billboard appeals to collectors interested in Fairey's street-art history and in the LA MOCA "Art In The Streets" moment that helped legitimize the genre in a museum setting. The print's documentary subject, a real San Francisco installation site, gives it narrative appeal beyond decoration, and its photographer credit to Mark the Cobra Snake adds context. As a signed screen print in an edition of 450 at an accessible $45, with a one-per-household limit, it is an attainable, contained release. It fits well within a street-art and public-art themed grouping and pairs naturally with Fairey's other billboard and location prints from the same 2011 series.
Historical Context
Released in March 2011, Bayshore Billboard was created alongside the LA MOCA "Art In The Streets" exhibition, a major museum survey of street art in which Fairey participated. The print revisits a San Francisco street spot he worked around 2003, using a photo by Mark the Cobra Snake, and belongs to a small group of location and billboard prints he made to document favorite sites. Within his arc, this work reflects the moment when street art moved into institutional spaces, and Fairey's choice to memorialize his own guerrilla history as gallery-ready prints. It exemplifies his ongoing dialogue between public, ephemeral installation and collectible studio output.
FAQ
What does the print depict?
It illustrates a favorite street spot of Fairey's on Bayshore Blvd. in San Francisco around 2003, showing a silhouetted figure at the billboard site. The image is based on a photo by Mark the Cobra Snake.
Why was it made?
Fairey created it in connection with the LA MOCA "Art In The Streets" show, for which he illustrated several of his favorite street spots from over the years and then made prints of his favorites.
What are the size and edition details?
It is an 18 by 24 inch screen print in an edition of 450, priced at $45, signed by Shepard Fairey, released March 10, 2011, with a limit of one per person per household.
Who collects this print?
It appeals to collectors of Fairey's street-art history and the "Art In The Streets" museum moment, and to those building a public-art or billboard-themed grouping. Its accessible price and documentary subject make it an approachable piece.
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.