Gauntlet Gallery
What is Shepard Fairey’s piece called “Flavor Flav (Prints On Wood Edition)”?
Artist Statement
LA Art Show exclusive fine art wood print on 1/2" sustainable Birch wood, vintage matte finish honoring 2017 award recipients Mel Ramos, Britt Salvesen & Ben Goretsky. Featuring art by world renown artist Shepard Fairey of Hall of Fame Public Enemy member, Flavor Flav, DJ of the LA Art Show x Juxtapoz Party celebrating Mel Ramos Lifetime Achievement Award. Each print will be hand signed and numbered by Shepard and Flavor Flav. Exclusive LA Art Show pricing of $150 will be available during the LA Art Show from January 9th through January 16th at 10 AM PST. After 10 AM PST on January 16th, the prints will be available until February 7th at the after show price of $250. The timed release will end on February 7th at 10 AM PST.
Summary
Flavor Flav (Prints On Wood Edition) is a 2017 Shepard Fairey giclee print produced on half-inch sustainable birch wood with a vintage matte finish, measuring 12 x 15 inches and published by Prints On Wood. An LA Art Show exclusive, it depicts Public Enemy's Flavor Flav, who DJ'd the LA Art Show x Juxtapoz party honoring Mel Ramos's Lifetime Achievement Award. Each print was hand signed and numbered by both Shepard Fairey and Flavor Flav. It launched on January 9, 2017 with exclusive show pricing of $150, rising to $250 after the show during a timed release window.
Why It Matters
Flavor Flav (Prints On Wood Edition) is unusual in Fairey's catalog on two counts: its substrate and its dual signature. Printed as a giclee on half-inch sustainable birch wood rather than paper, it is a physical object as much as an image, which gives it distinct shelf and wall presence and separates it from his standard screen prints. The dual hand-signing by both Shepard Fairey and Flavor Flav is its strongest collector hook, turning the piece into a cross-disciplinary artifact linking a major street artist to a Hall of Fame hip-hop figure. Its origin as an LA Art Show exclusive, tied to the event honoring Mel Ramos's Lifetime Achievement Award and the Juxtapoz party Flavor Flav DJ'd, roots it in a specific cultural moment within the contemporary art-and-music scene. For collectors, that provenance plus the joint signature creates a narrative that a typical Fairey print lacks. The edition size is not stated in the source, so scarcity cannot be precisely fixed, but the timed-release exclusivity and the celebrity collaboration give it appeal to both Fairey collectors and Public Enemy fans seeking a tangible crossover piece.
Collector Perspective
This piece targets collectors who prize crossover and collaboration objects, especially those interested in hip-hop and Public Enemy alongside Fairey's art. The birch-wood substrate and vintage matte finish make it a display-forward object that stands apart from framed paper prints, suiting collectors who want texture and physicality. The dual signature from both Fairey and Flavor Flav is the central draw and gives the work strong story value. As an LA Art Show exclusive with tiered, timed pricing, it carries event provenance that collectors of music-and-art collaborations will appreciate. Buyers focused strictly on Fairey's solo political work may pass, but for collectors building a collaboration or music-crossover grouping, it is a standout and conversation-starting acquisition.
Historical Context
Flavor Flav (Prints On Wood Edition) reflects Fairey's ongoing engagement with music culture and collaborative projects in the late 2010s. Produced for the 2017 LA Art Show in connection with the Juxtapoz party honoring Mel Ramos, it situates Fairey within the contemporary art-fair and music-scene ecosystem rather than his street-poster origins. The use of a specialty publisher, Prints On Wood, and a sustainable birch substrate shows his willingness to extend his imagery across non-traditional media. The dual signing with a Public Enemy member underscores the recurring bridge between Fairey's visual practice and the hip-hop and punk worlds that shaped his sensibility, marking a collaborative, event-driven node in his broader arc.
FAQ
What is unusual about how this print is made?
It is a giclee print on half-inch sustainable birch wood with a vintage matte finish, not paper. Measuring 12 x 15 inches and published by Prints On Wood, the wood substrate makes it a physical display object distinct from Fairey's standard screen prints.
Who signed the print?
Each print was hand signed and numbered by both Shepard Fairey and Flavor Flav of Public Enemy. The dual celebrity signature is the work's defining collector feature and reflects its origin as a music-and-art crossover piece.
What was the occasion for this print?
It was an LA Art Show exclusive tied to the LA Art Show x Juxtapoz party, where Flavor Flav DJ'd, celebrating Mel Ramos's Lifetime Achievement Award. It honored 2017 award recipients including Mel Ramos, Britt Salvesen and Ben Goretsky.
How was it priced and released?
It launched January 9, 2017 with exclusive LA Art Show pricing of $150 through January 16, after which it sold at $250 until the timed release ended on February 7, 2017.
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.