Gauntlet Gallery
What is Shepard Fairey’s piece called “Bright Future (Large Format - Red & Black)”?
Artist Statement
30 x 30 inch Serigraph on 100% Cotton Rag Archival paper with Deckeled Edges, Edition of 50, Signed by Shepard Fairey and Jamie Reid, Comes with COA, Limit 1 per person/household. $700.00 Release date: 5/22/2012 at two random times during the day (PST). Subliminal Projects and Paul Stolper are pleased to announce a print edition collaboration between Jamie Reid and Shepard Fairey. The editions were created to commemorate Reid’s Ragged Kingdom exhibition, March 16 to April 14, 2012. Limited Quantity available. Jamie has been one of my biggest influences and I’m honored that we worked on some collaborative images for the show. The new images deal with mutual interests of Jamie and I, addressing the timeless problems of corruption and wealth inequality, but tie into the very current themes of Occupy Wall Street and the dead end of fossil fuel consumption. – Shepard Fairey, 2012
Summary
Bright Future (Large Format - Red & Black) is a 2012 serigraph by Shepard Fairey, printed on 100% cotton rag archival paper with deckled edges at 30 x 30 inches in a first edition of 50, signed by Fairey and Jamie Reid and accompanied by a COA. Part of the Fairey-Reid collaboration commemorating Reid's Ragged Kingdom exhibition, the square red-and-black image engages themes of corruption, wealth inequality, and, per Fairey's statement, the environmental dead end of fossil-fuel consumption. It joins Reid's punk-collage approach to Fairey's graphic iconography in a bold two-color composition.
Why It Matters
Bright Future is part of the same landmark 2012 collaboration between Shepard Fairey and Jamie Reid, the punk-design icon behind the Sex Pistols' graphics, produced to commemorate Reid's Ragged Kingdom exhibition. Carrying both artists' signatures and a certificate of authenticity, it pairs Fairey's graphic vocabulary with Reid's confrontational collage sensibility in a square, 30-inch format printed on archival cotton rag with deckled edges, signaling a fine-art rather than poster presentation. Fairey explicitly frames the imagery around corruption and wealth inequality while extending it toward environmental critique of fossil-fuel consumption, giving the print a dual political-ecological charge that distinguishes it within the collaboration. With an edition of 50 and dual authorship, it is among the scarcer and more historically grounded works in his 2012 output. For collectors, the documented exhibition tie, the influence-driven partnership Fairey describes, and the archival production all elevate it above a standard OBEY release. The red-and-black colorway is one of two large-format variants, giving completists a clear pairing to pursue and reinforcing the set's appeal to those tracking Fairey's collaborative and activist work.
Collector Perspective
This suits collectors of artist collaborations, punk-design history, and environmentally themed activism, given Fairey's stated fossil-fuel critique. The edition of 50, square 30-inch format, archival cotton-rag stock, deckled edges, and dual Fairey-Reid signatures make it a scarce, well-made piece appealing to buyers who value provenance and a documented exhibition origin, with a COA included. Its bold red-and-black palette displays as a striking framed statement. It pairs naturally with the Shoplifters Welcome large format from the same collaboration, making it a logical companion for completists building a Fairey-Reid set or a politically and ecologically themed collection.
Historical Context
Produced in 2012, Bright Future belongs to Fairey's Occupy-era body of work confronting wealth inequality and corporate power, while also reaching toward the environmental themes that grew prominent in his later catalog. It is part of the collaboration with Jamie Reid, whose Sex Pistols artwork shaped punk's graphic language and whom Fairey names as a major influence. Created for Reid's Ragged Kingdom exhibition via Subliminal Projects and Paul Stolper, it connects Fairey's American street-art lineage with British punk graphics. Within his arc, the print marks the moment his practice intertwined topical activism, counterculture collaboration, and an emerging ecological consciousness on archival, gallery-grade materials.
FAQ
What kind of print is Bright Future?
It is a 30 x 30 inch serigraph on 100% cotton rag archival paper with deckled edges, in a first edition of 50. It was signed by Shepard Fairey and Jamie Reid and comes with a certificate of authenticity.
How does it relate to Jamie Reid?
It is part of a print collaboration between Fairey and Jamie Reid created to commemorate Reid's Ragged Kingdom exhibition in 2012, organized through Subliminal Projects and Paul Stolper. Reid is the artist Fairey cites as one of his biggest influences.
What themes does it explore?
Per Fairey's statement, it addresses corruption and wealth inequality alongside the very current themes of Occupy Wall Street and the dead end of fossil-fuel consumption, giving it both political and environmental dimensions.
Is documentation included?
Yes. The source states the print comes with a COA and is signed by both artists, with a limit of one per person or household at its May 2012 release.
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.