Gauntlet Gallery
What is Shepard Fairey’s piece called “Obey Holiday 2016 Print”?
Artist Statement
I make a holiday print every year as a gift for friends and supporters, which is usually a different color way of an image with a positive theme that I created at some point during that year. This year, however, I decided to create a new image for the holiday print and release a portion of the edition to the public. 175 of the 575 edition will be available… I know, I can't believe I have 400 friends and supporters either! As always, thank you for your support. Remember that it's better to give than to receive, especially when you are receiving proceeds from eBay. Try to pick up this print as something meaningful for yourself or someone else. Cheers! – Shepard OBEY HOLIDAY 2016 PRINT. 18 x 24 inches. Screen Print on cream Speckle Tone paper. Signed by Shepard Fairey. Edition of 575. $45.
Summary
Obey Holiday 2016 Print is a 2016 screen print by Shepard Fairey, published by Obey Giant in an edition of 575. It measures 18 by 24 inches and is printed on cream Speckle Tone paper. Per Fairey's note, he makes a holiday print each year as a gift for friends and supporters, but for 2016 he created a new image with a positive theme and released a portion of the edition to the public, with 175 of the 575 made available for sale. Fairey frames it around the spirit of giving over receiving. Signed by Shepard Fairey at $45.
Why It Matters
Fairey's annual holiday prints are a recurring, personal tradition within his catalog, originally made as gifts for friends and supporters, which gives them a warmer, more intimate character than his political or commercial releases. The 2016 edition is notable because Fairey broke from his usual practice of recoloring an existing image and instead created a new image with a positive theme, then released a portion of the run to the public. His note specifies that only 175 of the 575-piece edition were offered for sale, with the remainder reserved for friends and supporters, an unusually transparent breakdown that helps collectors understand real public availability. That structure, where most of the edition was gifted rather than sold, gives the print a distinctive provenance and makes the publicly available portion comparatively limited. For collectors who track Fairey's yearly holiday series, this is a key annual marker, and its positive, giving-oriented message offers a contrast to his more confrontational work. At an accessible original price and on specialty cream paper, it is an approachable signed Fairey with a meaningful personal backstory. It fits well in a collection following the holiday-print tradition or Fairey's lighter, supporter-focused output.
Collector Perspective
This print appeals to collectors who follow Fairey's annual holiday-print tradition and to those who appreciate works with a personal, giving-oriented message. Its notable feature is the edition breakdown: of 575 total, only 175 were released to the public, meaning the publicly purchasable portion is comparatively limited, a point of interest for availability-conscious buyers. The 18-by-24-inch format frames easily and suits a lighter, more uplifting wall grouping. The cream Speckle Tone paper adds warmth. With a signed run and a modest original price, it is an accessible signed Fairey. It works as a year-marker in a holiday-series collection or alongside Fairey's other supporter-focused and positive-theme prints, complementing his earlier holiday editions.
Historical Context
Fairey has long produced an annual holiday print as a gift for friends and supporters, typically a new colorway of a positive image made earlier that year. The 2016 edition departs from that pattern: per his note, he created a new image specifically for the occasion and released a portion to the public, 175 of the 575 produced. This places the print within a personal, recurring strand of his practice distinct from his political and collaborative work. Released in 2016 on specialty cream paper, it reflects the mature phase in which Fairey balanced activist output with warmer, supporter-oriented gestures. As part of the ongoing holiday-print lineage, it connects to earlier editions like the Obey Holiday Mandala and documents how Fairey maintained a direct relationship with his community of supporters.
FAQ
What makes the 2016 holiday print different?
Per Fairey's note, he usually makes a holiday print as a different color way of an existing positive image. For 2016 he instead created a new image and released a portion of the edition to the public rather than keeping it solely as a gift.
How much of the edition was sold to the public?
Fairey states that 175 of the 575-piece edition were made available to the public, with the remainder kept as gifts for friends and supporters. This makes the publicly purchasable portion comparatively limited within the total run.
What are the size, paper, and edition?
It measures 18 by 24 inches and is printed on cream Speckle Tone paper. It is a signed screen print in an edition of 575, published by Obey Giant in 2016 at an original price of $45.
Is this part of a recurring series?
Yes. Fairey notes he makes a holiday print every year as a gift for friends and supporters. This 2016 edition is part of that ongoing holiday-print tradition, alongside earlier examples such as the Obey Holiday Mandala.
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.