Gauntlet Gallery
What is Shepard Fairey’s piece called “Propaganda Services Eye”?
Artist Statement
18 x 24 inch screen print on cream Speckletone paper. Signed and numbered edition of 450. $45.
Summary
Propaganda Services Eye is a 2014 Shepard Fairey screen print published by Obey Giant. It measures 18 x 24 inches and is a signed and numbered first edition of 450, printed on cream Speckletone paper at a $45 release price. The title and the all-seeing eye motif tie it to Fairey's recurring propaganda and surveillance imagery, in which media, advertising, and authority are framed as systems that watch and persuade. The source gives only brief production detail, with primary theme noted as pop culture and a secondary theme of consumerism and power.
Why It Matters
Propaganda Services Eye extends one of Fairey's core conceptual threads: the eye as a symbol of surveillance, media manipulation, and the machinery of persuasion that his OBEY project has critiqued since its origins. The title's pairing of propaganda with the idea of a service satirizes how messaging and influence are packaged and sold, aligning with the source's secondary theme of consumerism and power. For collectors, this places the print within the lineage of Fairey's most recognizable iconography, where the eye and propaganda motifs recur across billboards, posters, and editions. At an accessible $45 release price and an edition of 450, it sits in the approachable, widely available tier of his catalog, making it an entry point for collectors drawn to his critique of media and authority. In a database, its value lies in documenting how Fairey repeatedly returns to surveillance and propaganda imagery as a self-aware commentary on his own brand and on the broader attention economy. The 18 x 24 inch screen print on Speckletone paper is consistent with his standard edition format of the period, reinforcing its role as part of the steady stream of conceptually pointed, affordably priced releases from Obey Giant in the mid-2010s.
Collector Perspective
This print suits collectors drawn to Fairey's propaganda and surveillance imagery and to the conceptual core of the OBEY project. At an accessible original price and a standard 18 x 24 inch size, it is an approachable acquisition for newer collectors or for those assembling a focused group around media critique and the eye motif. Its bold central symbol gives it strong graphic presence and easy display, and it pairs naturally with Fairey's billboard-themed editions and other consumerism-and-power works. It fits a collection organized around his iconographic and propaganda-inspired output rather than his music or portrait series. The edition of 450 keeps it relatively available compared with his small large-format runs.
Historical Context
Propaganda Services Eye belongs to Fairey's ongoing engagement with surveillance and propaganda imagery, themes rooted in the conceptual foundations of his OBEY project. Released in 2014 through Obey Giant, it continues his practice of producing pointed, affordably priced screen prints that reflect on media, advertising, and authority. The eye motif connects it to a broader run of his iconographic works, including his billboard-themed editions that similarly turn the language of advertising back on itself. Within his arc, it sits in a mid-2010s period of steady editioned output addressing consumerism and power, and its standard format and Speckletone paper align it with the typical production of his Obey Giant releases of the time.
FAQ
What is Propaganda Services Eye?
It is a 2014 screen print by Shepard Fairey, published by Obey Giant. It measures 18 x 24 inches and uses an all-seeing eye motif tied to his recurring propaganda and surveillance imagery. It was printed on cream Speckletone paper at a $45 release price.
How large is the edition?
Per the source, it is a signed and numbered first edition of 450, placing it in the more widely available tier of Fairey's editioned screen prints.
What are the dimensions and medium?
It is a screen print measuring 18 x 24 inches on cream Speckletone paper, published by Obey Giant in 2014, per the source. It was released at a $45 price.
What themes does it address?
The source notes pop culture as the primary theme and consumerism and power as secondary. The eye and propaganda motifs connect it to Fairey's longstanding critique of media, advertising, and surveillance central to the OBEY project.
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.