Gauntlet Gallery
What is Shepard Fairey’s piece called “Artists For Freedom”?
Artist Statement
Philippe Vergne from MOCA asked me if I would be willing to work on not only the graphic design identity system for the MOCA/Sotheby’s Spring auction, but to also create a fine art piece for the auction that relates to the design for the auction itself. I was excited to explore this concept because we live in a culture of compartmentalization but I believe that things are far more fluid between the fine art and design worlds than many gatekeepers are willing to acknowledge. Of course all of this was in service of an institution I believe does a lot for artists and should be supported by artists. This led to the concept of symbiotic support and creative freedom for the institution and the artists themselves facilitated by this symbiosis. My screen print is based on the painting I created for the auction, once again playing into the concept by yielding a more graphic version of a fine art piece but with a clear relationship to it and a lower price tag. I’m a populist so all of this works for me, hope it does for you. – Shepard 18 x 24 inch screen print on cream speckletone paper. Signed and numbered edition of 400. $60.
Summary
Artists For Freedom is a 2015 screen print published by Obey Giant, made in connection with the MOCA/Sotheby's Spring auction. MOCA's Philippe Vergne invited Fairey to create both the auction's graphic design identity and a related fine-art piece; this 18 x 24 inch print on cream speckletone paper is a more graphic version of the painting Fairey made for the auction. The work explores the idea of symbiotic support between an art institution and the artists it serves. Signed and numbered in an edition of 400, it was released in 2015 at $60.
Why It Matters
Artists For Freedom embodies Fairey's populist stance on the relationship between fine art and design. Invited by MOCA's Philippe Vergne to create both the identity system for the MOCA/Sotheby's Spring auction and a related artwork, Fairey deliberately blurred the line between the two worlds, arguing that the boundaries gatekeepers police are far more fluid than acknowledged. The print is the graphic counterpart to a painting he made for the auction, offered at a lower price so that more people could own a version of the concept, an explicit act of his populism. Thematically it centers on symbiotic support and creative freedom: institutions sustaining artists and artists sustaining institutions. That self-reflexive content, about the economics and ethics of the art world itself, gives the piece conceptual weight beyond its imagery. For collectors, it documents Fairey's direct collaboration with a major museum and a marquee auction, ties to a specific institutional moment, and exemplifies his lifelong project of democratizing access to art through affordable, signed editions.
Collector Perspective
This print suits collectors interested in Fairey's institutional collaborations and his ideas about the art world, given its origin with MOCA and the Sotheby's Spring auction. Its conceptual angle, blurring fine art and design and championing affordable access, appeals to buyers who value the narrative behind a piece. As an 18 x 24 inch image on cream speckletone paper in an edition of 400 at a $60 release price, it is an accessible, focused acquisition rather than a centerpiece. It fits a collection organized around Fairey's museum ties, art-world commentary, or his populist editions, and the documented auction provenance adds context for display and discussion.
Historical Context
Artists For Freedom reflects Fairey's deepening engagement with major art institutions in the mid-2010s. Commissioned by MOCA's Philippe Vergne to design the identity for the MOCA/Sotheby's Spring auction and to create a companion artwork, Fairey used the project to advance his recurring argument that fine art and design are more fluid than the art world admits. By releasing an affordable screen-print version of the auction painting, he enacted his self-described populism, extending access beyond the auction's buyers. Released in 2015, the print belongs to the Modern Activism period of his catalog and documents a moment when Fairey operated simultaneously as designer, fine artist, and institutional collaborator within the museum and auction system.
FAQ
What occasion was Artists For Freedom made for?
According to Fairey, MOCA's Philippe Vergne asked him to create the graphic design identity for the MOCA/Sotheby's Spring auction and also to make a fine art piece relating to that design. This screen print is the graphic version of the painting Fairey created for the auction.
What is the concept behind the print?
Fairey describes a concept of symbiotic support and creative freedom between an art institution and the artists it serves. He argues that fine art and design are more fluid than gatekeepers admit, and as a self-described populist, he offered an affordable print version of the auction painting so more people could own it.
What are the edition details?
Artists For Freedom is an 18 x 24 inch screen print on cream speckletone paper, signed and numbered in an edition of 400. It was published by Obey Giant in 2015 and released at $60.
How does this print relate to a painting?
Fairey states the screen print is based on the painting he created for the MOCA/Sotheby's auction. It is a more graphic version of that fine-art piece, with a clear relationship to it but a lower price tag, reflecting his aim to make the work more widely accessible.
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.