Gauntlet Gallery
What is Shepard Fairey’s piece called “We The Future”?
Artist Statement
All three 18"x24" (SIGNED + NUMBERED) silkscreen prints by Shepard Fairey on thick speckle-tone creme paper featuring featuring young leaders Xiuhtexcatl Martinez, Amanda Nguyen and Winter BreeAnne in an edition of 450.
Summary
We The Future is a 2018 set of three signed and numbered silkscreen prints by Shepard Fairey, published by the Amplifier Foundation in an edition of 450. Each measures 18 x 24 inches and is printed on thick speckle-tone creme paper. The series portrays young leaders Xiuhtezcatl Martinez, Amanda Nguyen and Winter BreeAnne, casting contemporary youth activists in Fairey's bold, poster-style portraiture. Created for the education-focused Amplifier Foundation, the works pair recognizable activist subjects with Fairey's graphic propaganda-derived language to celebrate emerging voices in social and environmental movements.
Why It Matters
We The Future is a clear example of Fairey channeling his propaganda-poster aesthetic into a forward-looking civic project. Produced with the Amplifier Foundation, the organization behind his widely circulated protest art, the three-print set portrays young leaders Xiuhtezcatl Martinez, Amanda Nguyen and Winter BreeAnne, deliberately turning his portrait language toward emerging activists rather than established icons. That choice matters culturally: it positions Fairey's recognizable graphic style as a vehicle for elevating youth voices in environmental and social-justice movements, aligning with the record's environmental and collaborations themes. For collectors, the appeal lies in the set's coherence, three matching 18 x 24 inch silkscreens on speckle-tone creme paper, signed and numbered in an edition of 450, that read as a unified statement on a shared subject. The Amplifier Foundation provenance ties the work to a recognized civic-art program, lending it documentary value as part of Fairey's activist output. The series also demonstrates his strategy of using portraiture to confer cultural weight, applying the same visual vocabulary that made his political portraits memorable to a new generation of leaders.
Collector Perspective
This set appeals to collectors focused on Fairey's activist and social-justice portraiture, especially those who value works tied to the Amplifier Foundation. Because it is a coordinated three-print set of young leaders, it suits buyers who want a cohesive grouping rather than a single image, and it displays well as a triptych-style wall arrangement. The 18 x 24 inch size on speckle-tone creme paper is accessible and frame-friendly. With a signed, numbered edition of 450, it is attainable while still a defined first-edition release. It fits naturally in a collection organized around Fairey's portraits, environmental themes, or his collaborations with advocacy organizations.
Historical Context
We The Future belongs to Fairey's late-2010s activist output and his continued partnership with the Amplifier Foundation, which had earlier distributed his widely seen protest portraits. By portraying youth leaders Xiuhtezcatl Martinez, Amanda Nguyen and Winter BreeAnne, the 2018 set reflects a turn toward spotlighting a new generation of organizers around environmental and social causes. It sits alongside Fairey's broader practice of using portraiture to elevate movement figures, extending that approach from established public figures to emerging activists. The Amplifier Foundation context places it within education- and advocacy-oriented art programs rather than purely gallery releases, underscoring how Fairey balanced commercial print editions with mission-driven collaborations during this period. The set also anticipates the related large-format single-subject prints of the same young leaders issued in the same year.
FAQ
Who is portrayed in We The Future?
The set features three young leaders: Xiuhtezcatl Martinez, Amanda Nguyen and Winter BreeAnne. Fairey applies his graphic portrait style to spotlight these emerging activists across the three prints.
How many prints are in the set and what is the edition?
It is a set of three 18 x 24 inch silkscreen prints, each signed and numbered, in an edition of 450, printed on thick speckle-tone creme paper according to the source.
Who published it?
It was published by the Amplifier Foundation, the advocacy art organization Fairey has worked with on civic and protest art projects, giving the set documented provenance.
What themes does it address?
The record cites collaborations/pop-culture and environment/climate themes. By portraying youth organizers, the set engages social-justice and environmental advocacy through Fairey's poster portraiture.
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.