What is Shepard Fairey’s piece called “This Changes Everything”?

Artist Statement

18 x 24 inch screen print on cream speckle tone paper. Signed and numbered edition of 450. $55. Naomi Klein's book This Changes Everything did just that for me. I've been a long time advocate for climate change but this book inspired me and continues to inspire me; now it's a film. I'm proud to be an Executive Producer alongside Seth MacFarlane, Vivienne Westwood, Danny Glover and others. When Naomi and Avi (the director) asked me to get involved and create the poster and art for the film, I jumped at the chance to make something that resonates with audiences and evokes a feeling of urgency and change needed NOW. The future of our planet is the most important cause there is. Klein thoroughly and compellingly examines the causes of climate change and the systemic roadblocks to reversing it. I know the film will have a lasting impact. It's overwhelmingly clear through the book and film, that income inequality, lack of corporate oversight, campaign finance, lobbying, and many other current strands of capitalism are all related to our inability to significantly counter climate change. We ALL need to protect humanity and the planet if we want to protect our future. Thanks for caring! -Shepard

Summary

This Changes Everything is a 2015 Shepard Fairey screen print, published by Obey Giant on October 20, 2015. It measures 18 x 24 inches, printed on cream speckle tone paper, and was issued as a signed and numbered first edition of 450 at $55. Fairey created the poster and art for the film of the same name, based on Naomi Klein's book on climate change, for which he served as an Executive Producer. The image conveys urgency about the planet's future, linking climate change to income inequality and the systems of modern capitalism in Fairey's bold graphic style.

Why It Matters

This Changes Everything matters as one of Fairey's most directly engaged climate works, tied to a specific cultural project rather than a general theme. Per his own statement, Naomi Klein's book deeply influenced him, and he created the poster and art for the resulting film while serving as Executive Producer alongside figures including Seth MacFarlane, Vivienne Westwood, and Danny Glover. That documented connection to a major climate documentary gives the print unusual provenance and narrative weight within his catalog. Fairey frames the work around urgency, calling the planet's future 'the most important cause there is,' and explicitly ties climate change to income inequality, lack of corporate oversight, campaign finance, and lobbying. This makes the print a clear statement of his integrated worldview, where environmental and economic justice are inseparable. For collectors, it is both an affordable, hand-signed screen print and a tangible artifact of a notable activist film collaboration, anchoring an environmentally themed Fairey grouping with a piece that carries a concrete real-world story and the artist's personal endorsement.

Collector Perspective

This print appeals to collectors focused on Fairey's environmental and activist work, especially those who value pieces with documented real-world connections. Its link to Naomi Klein's book and film, and Fairey's role as Executive Producer and poster artist, give it provenance that elevates it above a generic theme print. At a $55 issue price and edition of 450, it remains accessible to newer collectors and those building a climate-themed grouping. The 18 x 24 inch format frames easily and displays well alongside Fairey's broader environmental editions. Collectors drawn to the intersection of art and activism, or to Fairey's own statements about a work, will find this an especially meaningful and story-rich addition to a focused collection.

Historical Context

This Changes Everything dates to October 2015 and marks one of Fairey's explicit climate-activism collaborations, created for the film adaptation of Naomi Klein's book. By the mid-2010s Fairey was increasingly channeling his work toward environmental causes, and his role as Executive Producer here shows his activism extending beyond image-making into film production. The print reflects his characteristic linking of environmental crisis to systemic economic forces, a framework that recurs across his later climate works. It sits at a point in his arc where he was deepening his commitment to climate as, in his words, 'the most important cause there is,' foreshadowing the environmental focus of much of his subsequent output.

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Related Works

Oil Lotus Woman2018 · Later environmental print sharing Fairey's climate-and-systems critique.

Eyes Open (Signed Offset)2021 · Environmental-themed Fairey work continuing his climate-urgency message.

Protect Biodiversity - Cultivate Harmony2021 · Later climate print extending Fairey's planet-preservation focus.

Earth Preservation2025 · Recent environmental print in the same planet-future theme.

Justice Woman (Blue)2021 · Shares the civil-rights-and-justice secondary theme attached to this print.