Gauntlet Gallery
What is Shepard Fairey’s piece called “Drink Crude Oil”?
Artist Statement
Drink Crude Oil. 18 x 24 inches. Screen print on cream Speckle Tone paper. Signed by Shepard Fairey. Numbered edition of 450. $45.
Summary
Drink Crude Oil is a 2017 Shepard Fairey screen print on cream Speckle Tone paper, measuring 18 x 24 inches. This Artist Proof is part of a release tied to a signed, numbered edition of 450 published by Obey Giant. The image plays on advertising and consumer-product visual language, recasting the act of consumption around crude oil to critique fossil-fuel dependence. Rendered in Fairey's familiar high-contrast graphic palette, it combines a mock-commercial directive with environmental warning. The print is signed by Shepard Fairey and was released at an original price of $45.
Why It Matters
Drink Crude Oil sits in Fairey's sustained body of environmental and consumer-critique work, using the look of branded advertising to deliver an anti-consumption message. By framing crude oil as something to be 'consumed,' the image satirizes how thoroughly fossil fuels are woven into everyday life and commerce, turning a familiar commercial directive into a pointed environmental warning. For collectors, the work is a clean example of Fairey's strategy of co-opting propaganda and advertising aesthetics to subvert them, a method central to his practice since the OBEY sticker campaign. The Artist Proof designation makes this a less-common pull from a signed, numbered edition of 450, appealing to buyers who specifically seek proofs. It also connects thematically to a cluster of 2016-2017 environmental releases on oil, climate, and planetary crisis, making it a logical anchor or companion piece within a focused collection. Its modest original price point and standard 18 x 24 format have historically made these screen prints accessible entry points, while the environmental message keeps the work topical and culturally resonant well beyond its release date.
Collector Perspective
This print appeals to collectors who focus on Fairey's environmental and corporate-critique output, as well as those who specifically pursue Artist Proofs over standard numbered impressions. At 18 x 24 inches, it is an easy size to frame and display, and its bold graphic palette reads well grouped with other oil-and-climate themed works from the same period. Buyers building a thematic wall around fossil-fuel critique or consumer satire will find it slots in naturally alongside companion pieces like Fossil Factory or Blood & Oil Mandala. The Artist Proof status adds a layer of desirability for completists, while the screen-print medium and Fairey signature support long-term collectibility. It suits both newer collectors entering through an accessible price point and established collectors rounding out an environmental sub-series.
Historical Context
Drink Crude Oil belongs to Fairey's prolific 2016-2017 stretch of environmentally themed screen prints, a period when he repeatedly returned to fossil fuels, climate change, and consumer culture as subjects. The work extends a method Fairey has used since his early street-art years: borrowing the visual grammar of advertising and propaganda to invert their messages. Released through Obey Giant on cream Speckle Tone paper in a signed edition of 450, it reflects his standard studio-edition practice of this era. Thematically it fits within the same environmental conversation as Fossil Factory, Dark Wave, and Wrong Path, all released in the same window, placing it firmly in his mature activist-poster output rather than his earliest OBEY iconography.
FAQ
What are the dimensions and medium of Drink Crude Oil?
It is a screen print on cream Speckle Tone paper measuring 18 x 24 inches. It was published by Obey Giant in 2017 and is signed by Shepard Fairey. The image uses Fairey's high-contrast graphic style to deliver its environmental and consumer-critique message.
What is the edition size?
The release is a numbered edition of 450. This particular impression is an Artist Proof, an edition designation that sits alongside the standard numbered First Edition pulls from the same release.
What is an Artist Proof?
An Artist Proof is a separate designation pulled apart from the main numbered run. For this release, the Artist Proof accompanies the numbered edition of 450, and many collectors specifically seek proofs as a less-common variant within an edition.
What is the print about?
Drink Crude Oil uses the visual language of advertising and consumer products to critique fossil-fuel dependence. By framing crude oil as something to be consumed, Fairey satirizes how deeply oil is embedded in everyday commerce, delivering an environmental warning through familiar commercial imagery.
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.