Gauntlet Gallery
What is Shepard Fairey’s piece called “SD (San Diego) Billboard”?
Artist Statement
18 x 24? Screen Print Signed and Numbered Edition of 450 $45 Limit 1 per person/household Release Date: 4/14/2011
Summary
SD (San Diego) Billboard is a 2011 Shepard Fairey screen print published by Obey Giant, released April 14, 2011 in a signed and numbered first edition of 450 at 18 x 24 inches, priced at $45. The image documents one of Fairey's San Diego billboard works, continuing his series of location-named editions that translate large-scale public installations into collectible prints. It carries his characteristic bold graphic style and was released with a one-per-household purchase limit, in line with Obey Giant's accessible-edition program that spring.
Why It Matters
SD (San Diego) Billboard extends Fairey's 2011 sequence of city-specific editions, anchoring a print to a particular Southern California billboard and a precise April release date. It captures the heart of his practice, taking imagery that lived large and outdoors in public space and compressing it into an editioned object collectors can own and hang. As the third in a tight weekly run alongside the Sunset & Vine and SF Fire Escape prints, it underscores how systematically Fairey mapped his output onto specific locations during this period. At $45 and an edition of 450, it was built for accessibility rather than scarcity, making it valuable as connective material in a representative collection rather than as a headline rarity. The source theme data flags pop culture and portraits-and-legacy notes, suggesting recognizable iconography embedded within the billboard composition. For collectors, the appeal is geographic and documentary: a verifiable San Diego subject, a known 2011 release, and a confirmed signed-and-numbered edition. It rewards those who follow Fairey's serial, place-based logic and want the complete weekly cluster of his billboard-derived prints.
Collector Perspective
This appeals to collectors who organize Fairey's work by city or who want the full set of 2011 billboard-derived editions. San Diego and broader Southern California collectors may value its regional tie. The 18 x 24 inch format frames easily and displays cohesively with the Sunset & Vine and SF Fire Escape prints from the same weeks. As a signed, numbered edition of 450 first offered at $45, it is an accessible piece for newer buyers and a logical acquisition for completists assembling the consecutive-week run. Its documentary link to a specific public billboard adds context that rewards collectors who value provenance of subject.
Historical Context
SD (San Diego) Billboard falls in Fairey's densely scheduled spring 2011, released a week after the SF Fire Escape print as part of a deliberate cadence of location-named editions. By 2011 Fairey's studio was producing prints at a steady clip, and his public billboard installations regularly fed the collectible program. This piece typifies that mature street-to-print pipeline, where an outdoor San Diego work becomes a signed serigraph. It reflects Fairey's long-running interest in occupying public visual space, the billboards and walls that carry his message beyond the gallery, and in giving collectors a tangible record of installations they likely never saw in person. The print sits comfortably within his well-established graphic vocabulary of the era.
FAQ
When was the SD (San Diego) Billboard print released?
It was published by Obey Giant and released on April 14, 2011. The print is a signed and numbered first edition of 450 at 18 x 24 inches, priced at $45 with a limit of one per person or household at the time of release.
What is the edition size and format?
It is a signed and numbered first edition of 450 screen prints measuring 18 x 24 inches. The source notes a one-per-person-or-household purchase limit, consistent with Obey Giant's accessible-edition releases during spring 2011.
What does the print depict?
It documents one of Fairey's San Diego billboard works, part of his 2011 series of location-named editions. The source theme data notes pop culture and portraits-and-legacy elements, indicating recognizable iconography within the billboard image.
Is this part of a series?
Yes. It belongs to a run of weekly 2011 location-named billboard prints, following the Sunset & Vine and SF Fire Escape releases. All share the same 18 x 24 inch format and edition of 450, making them natural companions in a collection.
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.