Gauntlet Gallery
What is Shepard Fairey’s piece called “Global Target (Large Format)”?
Artist Statement
Global Target 2012 from the Target Series Three-color relief on handmade paper 35 x 25 1/2 inches Edition of 35 Published by Pace Editions, Inc.
Summary
Global Target is a 2012 large-format work by Shepard Fairey from the Target Series, published by Pace Editions in an edition of 35. It is a three-color relief print on handmade paper measuring 35 x 25 1/2 inches. The piece centers Fairey's recurring target motif over a global subject, executed as a hand-pulled relief rather than a screen print. As part of a fine-art Target Series produced with a major print publisher, it pairs Fairey's bold concentric graphic language with premium materials, presenting his consumerism-and-power imagery at a larger, more collectible scale.
Why It Matters
Global Target sits in a distinct, elevated tier of Shepard Fairey's output: the Target Series produced with Pace Editions, a blue-chip fine-art print publisher. That partnership matters because it moved Fairey's familiar street-derived motifs into the world of handmade-paper relief printing in very small editions, signaling his crossover from poster artist to gallery-represented printmaker. The target motif itself is loaded in Fairey's vocabulary, evoking surveillance, consumerism, and the crosshairs of power, and applying it to a global subject extends that critique outward. With an edition of only 35 on handmade paper, the work is genuinely scarce relative to his Obey Giant screen prints that run into the hundreds. For collectors, the Pace imprint, the three-color relief technique, and the large format combine to make this a more serious acquisition than a typical Fairey drop. It documents a moment when Fairey was working in dialogue with established fine-art print infrastructure, and the Target Series as a whole shows him systematizing a single icon across multiple variations, a strategy collectors prize for set-building.
Collector Perspective
Global Target appeals to collectors who pursue Fairey's fine-art print output rather than his mass-market editions. The Pace Editions imprint, handmade paper, and small edition of 35 position it for buyers who value scarcity, technique, and publisher provenance. At 35 x 25 1/2 inches it is a substantial wall piece suited to a gallery wall or a serious collection alongside other Target Series variants. It fits naturally into a thematic Target Series grouping, where collectors enjoy assembling the multiple color and subject variations. Because it is a hand-pulled relief on handmade paper, it carries the tactile, material appeal that distinguishes Fairey's Pace works from his screen prints.
Historical Context
Global Target was produced in 2012 as part of Shepard Fairey's Target Series with Pace Editions, a collaboration that placed his work within an established fine-art print house. This period reflects Fairey's broadening from self-published Obey Giant editions toward formal gallery and publisher relationships, working in three-color relief on handmade paper rather than his customary screen-print process. The Target motif had long appeared across his imagery as a symbol of surveillance and consumer culture, and the 2012 series gave it a sustained, multi-variation treatment at large scale. Within his arc, these Pace works mark a maturation point where Fairey's recognizable iconography was reproduced through traditional, labor-intensive printmaking aimed at a collector audience.
FAQ
What series does Global Target belong to?
According to the record, Global Target is part of Shepard Fairey's Target Series from 2012, published by Pace Editions, Inc. The series applies his target motif across multiple variations as fine-art relief prints.
What is the medium and size?
It is a three-color relief on handmade paper, measuring 35 x 25 1/2 inches. The source specifies a hand-pulled relief technique rather than Fairey's more common screen-print process.
How large is the edition?
The edition is just 35, as stated in the record, making it a small fine-art run compared with Fairey's Obey Giant screen prints that typically number in the hundreds.
Who published Global Target?
It was published by Pace Editions, Inc., an established fine-art print publisher. This publisher relationship distinguishes the Target Series from Fairey's self-released Obey Giant editions.
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.