Gauntlet Gallery
What is Shepard Fairey’s piece called “Your Ad Here”?
Artist Statement
The Your Ad Here Billboard print references Pop Art, advertising, and my history of pasting my art on commercial billboards. I have often seized upon ad-free billboards as convenient large canvases and frequently the only text on these otherwise blank billboards says "YOUR AD HERE" with a number to call. I am amused and grateful when offered an opportunity to place "my ad" in a free space. – Shepard Your Ad Here Billboard Large Format. 26 x 48 inches. Screen print on cream 100% cotton custom archival paper by Legion Paper with hand-deckled edges. Signed by Shepard Fairey. Numbered edition of 75. $800. Obey publishing chop in lower left corner. Comes with Certificate of Authenticity (COA).
Summary
Your Ad Here is a 2018 Shepard Fairey large-format screenprint, 26 x 48 inches, on cream 100% cotton custom archival paper by Legion Paper with hand-deckled edges, published by Obey Giant. It is signed and numbered in an edition of 75, carries the Obey publishing chop in the lower left corner, comes with a Certificate of Authenticity, and was released at $800. The image references Pop Art, advertising, and Fairey's history of pasting his work on commercial billboards, including blank billboards marked 'YOUR AD HERE.' The piece turns that found ad-space prompt into a wry comment on public space and consumer culture.
Why It Matters
Your Ad Here distills a core idea of Fairey's street practice into a premium collectible: the appropriation of commercial advertising space for art. As he explains, he has often seized ad-free billboards as convenient large canvases, and the recurring 'YOUR AD HERE' prompt becomes both subject and joke, with Fairey gladly placing his own ad in the free space. That self-referential wit, layered over explicit nods to Pop Art and advertising, gives the print conceptual weight beyond its graphics. For collectors, the production is decisive: at 26 x 48 inches on hand-deckled Legion cotton paper, with an Obey chop and a Certificate of Authenticity, this is a high-craft, large-format edition rather than a quick poster. The edition of 75 places it among the scarcer offerings in Fairey's catalog. Its importance lies in how cleanly it links his consumerism-and-power critique to the billboard tactics that defined his guerrilla beginnings, packaged as a serious archival object. Within a collection it serves as a statement piece on advertising and public space, pairing naturally with other large-format consumerism-themed editions and demonstrating the upper register of his print production.
Collector Perspective
This is a centerpiece-grade print for collectors who prize concept plus craft. The 26 x 48 scale, hand-deckled Legion Paper, Obey chop, and included Certificate of Authenticity appeal to buyers focused on production quality and provenance, and the edition of 75 satisfies those who weigh scarcity. Its Pop Art and advertising references give it broad design appeal, making it a strong fit for collectors interested in consumer-culture critique as much as Fairey devotees. At its larger original price it targets established buyers furnishing a wall that can hold a billboard-scale image. It groups well with other large-format consumerism-and-power editions, where its wit and size let it lead. Display requires real wall space, but it rewards with a smart, commanding statement.
Historical Context
Your Ad Here connects Fairey's mature studio output to the billboard-pasting tactics that defined his guerrilla roots. The source describes his long history of using blank commercial billboards as large canvases, and this 2018 edition reframes that practice as fine art, complete with Pop Art and advertising references. It belongs to the late-2010s phase when Fairey was producing premium large-format editions on archival Legion Paper with chops and Certificates of Authenticity, the same elevated production approach seen across his Damaged-era works. Thematically it extends his consumerism-and-power critique, turning the language of advertising back on itself. It sits among related large-format 2018 editions and reflects an artist translating street-level interventions into limited, high-craft collectibles for serious buyers, bridging his subversive origins and his gallery present.
FAQ
What is the concept behind Your Ad Here?
Per Fairey, it references Pop Art, advertising, and his history of pasting art on commercial billboards. He notes that blank billboards often read 'YOUR AD HERE' with a phone number, and he is amused to place his own ad in that free space.
What are the print's specifications?
It is a 26 x 48 inch screenprint on cream 100% cotton custom archival Legion Paper with hand-deckled edges, signed and numbered in an edition of 75. It carries the Obey publishing chop and comes with a Certificate of Authenticity.
How scarce is this edition?
Your Ad Here was issued in a numbered edition of 75, smaller than many of Fairey's standard runs. It was published by Obey Giant in 2018 at an original release price of $800.
What theme does it address?
The work extends Fairey's critique of consumerism and the commercialization of public space, using advertising's own 'your ad here' language to reflect on billboards as contested visual territory.
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.