Gauntlet Gallery
What is Shepard Fairey’s piece called “Obey X Cope2 Takeover”?
Artist Statement
COPE2 is one of the most notorious bombers in New York City and the five boroughs. I first stumbled upon his work in the early 90's. From the Bronx to downtown to Brooklyn he had pieces everywhere. The two color, very stylish bubble letter throw ups reading COPE, were just everywhere. The guy was definitely one of the most prolific bombers I’ve ever seen, and I’ve spent a lot of time in New York City. Especially in the 90's, COPE was everywhere. I found out later on that he had actually been out bombing since the early 80's, starting very young. Some of the stuff I saw in the early 90's had maybe been around three, five, eight, even ten years, who knows… but he just stayed at it. He was incredibly tenacious and had built up a huge amount of work around the city. Of course graffiti is ephemeral, but back then New York wasn’t cleaned as fast, so his stuff was accumulating. I didn’t meet him, I just knew him through his work, and I just thought for traditional graffiti this guy has one of the best styles. Of course, success in graffiti is measured by volume and he was one of the most , if not the most, up of anyone in New York City. I first got in touch with COPE2 because he had painted on a skateboard that ended up in a show in our gallery. I said, “Wow, COPE2….that guy’s work is everywhere but I’ve never met him, I don’t even know anyone who knows him. Do you have his email?” The guy that organized the skateboard show had the contact info, so I emailed him. COPE was super cool and said he knew my work well. He said he would love to link up sometime when I was in New York, so yeah it somehow happened.. by modern technology. We ended up becoming friends and collaborating on a couple of walls. He took me up to the Bronx and we worked on a wall there on a production he’s maintained for many years. He also took me out to do some bombing and hit some freeway spots. I simultaneously was doing a wall down in Manhattan that I had permission for, a really high-profile wall and told COPE2 he should get up on either end of this wall too. We showed a little uptown/downtown love, and mutual appreciation. We liked the way the production in the Bronx came out so much that we decided on a poster collaboration. Martha Cooper, who is one of the all-time great graffiti photographers, shot the photo. So between me, COPE2, and Martha, it was a pretty epic collaboration. We talked about doing something with the Obey clothing line with COPE2. His work is great and he can pretty much do tags on top of anything, so we decided to let him do his thing on top of the OBEY icon, to also create a shirt of our Bronx collaboration. We have some great stuff coming out, and I’m always about putting the spotlight on people that I think have really put a lot of work in the culture and have earned the respect that they deserve. COPE2 is one of those people. This poster marks the release of the COPE2 collaboration with OBEY Clothing. -Shepard Fairey 16 x 24 inch Lithograph print. Signed by Shepard Fairey and COPE2. Numbered edition of 300. (100 will be available from this site) $50. Limit 1 per person/household. Release Date: 7/25/2013
Summary
Obey X Cope2 Takeover is a 2013 Obey Giant offset lithograph, 16 x 24 inches, signed by Shepard Fairey and graffiti writer COPE2 in a numbered edition of 300. The print marks the release of a COPE2 collaboration with OBEY Clothing and stems from a Bronx wall production the two artists created together. The source recounts Fairey's long admiration for COPE2, one of New York City's most prolific graffiti bombers, dating to the early 1990s. Photographer Martha Cooper shot the image. The print layers COPE2's tag work over the OBEY icon, celebrating their friendship and mutual respect across the graffiti and street-art worlds.
Why It Matters
This print documents a genuine meeting of two street-art lineages: Fairey's OBEY iconography and COPE2's New York graffiti legacy. The source devotes unusual depth to the backstory, recounting how Fairey first encountered COPE2's ubiquitous bubble-letter throw-ups in the early 1990s and later befriended and collaborated with him on walls in the Bronx and Manhattan. That the image was photographed by Martha Cooper, one of graffiti's most important documentarians, adds a third layer of street-culture pedigree, making the print, as Fairey puts it, an epic collaboration. The work also functions as a release marker for the COPE2 x OBEY Clothing collaboration, tying the fine-art print to the brand side of Fairey's enterprise. For collectors, the dual signatures and the explicit fusion of the OBEY icon with COPE2's tag make it a tangible artifact of cross-scene respect. It embodies Fairey's stated mission of spotlighting people who put in work and earned respect in the culture, distinguishing it from purely promotional collaborations.
Collector Perspective
This appeals to collectors of graffiti and street-art history, particularly those who value New York writing culture and figures like COPE2 and photographer Martha Cooper. The dual Fairey/COPE2 signatures and the OBEY-icon-meets-tag imagery make it a centerpiece for a collection focused on collaborations and street-culture crossovers. With an edition of 300, of which the source notes only 100 were offered through the site, and an accessible original price, it is approachable yet limited. As an offset lithograph it differs in medium from many of Fairey's screen prints, which may interest collectors tracking his range of production methods. It pairs naturally with his other artist-collaboration prints.
Historical Context
Released in 2013, Obey X Cope2 Takeover sits within Fairey's broad mid-career program of collaborations with figures he respects across music, art, and street culture. The source situates the partnership in the lineage of New York graffiti, with COPE2 active since the early 1980s, and connects it to Fairey's own decades of engagement with the city's street scene. Tied to the COPE2 x OBEY Clothing release and photographed by Martha Cooper, the print bridges Fairey's fine-art editions and his brand collaborations. It reflects his recurring effort to honor underrecognized contributors to street culture, extending the OBEY icon into dialogue with traditional graffiti.
FAQ
What is Obey X Cope2 Takeover?
It is a 2013 collaboration print between Shepard Fairey and New York graffiti writer COPE2, published by Obey Giant. The 16 x 24 inch offset lithograph is signed by both artists in a numbered edition of 300, and marks the release of the COPE2 collaboration with OBEY Clothing.
Who is COPE2 and how did the collaboration happen?
COPE2 is described as one of New York City's most prolific and notorious graffiti bombers, active since the early 1980s. Fairey admired his work since the early 1990s, later befriended him, and the two painted walls together in the Bronx and Manhattan, leading to this poster collaboration.
Who photographed the image?
According to the source, the photo was shot by Martha Cooper, described as one of the all-time great graffiti photographers. Fairey calls the result of working with COPE2 and Cooper a pretty epic collaboration, adding documentary pedigree to the print.
What are the edition and medium details?
The print is a 16 x 24 inch offset lithograph, signed by Shepard Fairey and COPE2, in a numbered edition of 300. The source notes 100 were available through the site at $50, with a limit of one per person, and a release date of July 25, 2013.
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.