Gauntlet Gallery
What is Shepard Fairey’s piece called “Suit (Red)”?
Artist Statement
SUIT RED Screen Print 18 x 24 inches Edition of 100 This image came from a photograph I took in San Francisco. There was a paste-up of a guy in a suit holding a sign, and I pasted one of my 11 x 17? Obey posters over the sign. Someone had already scratched the head of the businessman, which was interesting because I noticed a lot of the Obey images I put up would be scratched immediately. I guess people don’t like to be told to obey, so they react by scratching out the image. In the case of this businessman, someone apparently didn’t like whatever he represented so they scratched him out. I thought it was cool to have the two images combined, since there’s clearly a face associated with Obey but no one sees the face that propagates it.
Summary
Suit (Red) is a 1999 Shepard Fairey screen print, published by Obey Giant as a first edition of 100, measuring 18 x 24 inches, issued in a red colorway. The image derives from a photograph Fairey took in San Francisco of a paste-up of a suited man holding a sign, over which he pasted one of his Obey posters; the businessman's head had already been scratched out. The work combines a faceless figure of corporate authority with the Obey identity, exploring how power propagates through images whose true source remains unseen. It is a hand-pulled screen print engaging consumerism, power, and Obey iconography.
Why It Matters
Suit (Red) is among the more conceptually layered early Obey prints, and Fairey's own account makes its meaning unusually legible. The source image came from a San Francisco street scene where he pasted an Obey poster over the sign held by a suited businessman whose head had already been scratched out by passersby. Fairey reflects that Obey images he put up were often scratched immediately, reading this as people resisting being told to obey, and that someone had similarly defaced the businessman, rejecting whatever he represented. By combining the two, the print stages a pointed idea: there is clearly a face associated with Obey, yet no one sees the face that actually propagates it, mirroring how corporate and institutional power operates anonymously behind a public image. The listed themes of consumerism and power and OBEY iconography confirm this reading. For collectors, the work pairs a documented artist statement with an early edition of 100 and a specific red colorway, making it both a strong visual object and a record of how Fairey theorized the propaganda mechanics at the heart of the Obey project. It anticipates the surveillance and corporate-critique themes that recur across his later work.
Collector Perspective
Suit (Red) appeals to collectors who value prints with a documented conceptual backstory and a clear critique of corporate power and anonymity. Fairey's first-person account of the San Francisco paste-up gives it narrative depth that rewards display and discussion, fitting collections oriented toward his consumerism-and-power and Obey-identity themes. The specific red colorway and the small edition of 100 add collectible distinction, and the 18 x 24-inch scale frames easily. It groups naturally with other power- and Obey-iconography works across the catalogue, from early pieces like Lenin to later red-toned Obey prints, making it a strong anchor for a thematic grouping on authority and image.
Historical Context
Suit (Red) dates to 1999, within Fairey's late-1990s run of small-edition Obey Giant screen prints, and is rooted in his street practice: it derives from a San Francisco paste-up he photographed and altered with his own Obey poster. This ties the work directly to the origins of the Obey project in the 1989 Andre the Giant sticker campaign and its evolution into studio editions. The print's meditation on a faceless authority whose true source goes unseen reflects Fairey's developing theory of how propaganda and corporate power operate, a thread that continues through his later surveillance and corporate-critique work. The edition of 100 and red colorway are consistent with his output from this period, which predates his broad mainstream recognition.
FAQ
Where did the image for Suit (Red) come from?
Fairey based it on a photograph he took in San Francisco of a paste-up of a suited man holding a sign. He pasted one of his Obey posters over the sign, and the businessman's head had already been scratched out by someone else.
What does the print mean?
Fairey noted that Obey images were often scratched out by people resisting being told to obey, and the businessman had been defaced similarly. Combining them, he highlighted that Obey has a visible face, yet no one sees the face that actually propagates it, mirroring anonymous corporate power.
What are its specifications?
Suit (Red) was made in 1999 and published by Obey Giant. It is a hand-pulled screen print measuring 18 x 24 inches, issued as a first edition of 100 in a red colorway.
What themes does it engage?
The record lists consumerism and power and OBEY iconography as its themes. The faceless-authority concept ties it to Fairey's recurring interests in corporate critique, propaganda, and the hidden sources of power.
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.