Gauntlet Gallery
What is Shepard Fairey’s piece called “Proud Parents (Large Format)”?
Artist Statement
Motivated by his long-held interests in using art to encourage critical awareness and dissent, in this print the artist co-opts the aesthetic of currency and popular tropes of the middle class to render a dystopian view of the American family. Created during the second term of the George W. Bush presidency, this print questions the increasingly skewed national values of this country and the role of money in furthering that condition. With a deliberately vintage design, a couple cradles a bomb as if their child. Their loving and optimistic display, however, is surrounded by verbal puns that undermine their position and future. The family unit is consumed by a government that sponsors a nonsensical American scene, interested in investing more in the military instead of education. Proud Parents. Serigraph on Coventry Rag, 100% Cotton Custom Archival Paper with hand-deckled edges. 30 x 41 inches. Signed by Shepard Fairey. Numbered edition of 89. Comes with a certificate of authenticity. $900.
Summary
Proud Parents is a 2019 large-format screen print by Shepard Fairey, published by Obey Giant in a signed, numbered edition of 89 measuring 30 x 41 inches on Coventry Rag 100% cotton archival paper with hand-deckled edges. The image co-opts the aesthetic of paper currency in a deliberately vintage design: a smiling couple cradles a bomb as if it were their child, the loving tableau surrounded by verbal puns that undermine their optimism. Fairey uses the imagery of the middle-class American family to render a dystopian commentary on skewed national values and the role of money and military spending in shaping them.
Why It Matters
Proud Parents condenses several of Fairey's recurring concerns into a single satirical image: the corrupting influence of money, the prioritization of military spending over education, and the manufactured comfort of middle-class iconography. By dressing critique in the familiar visual language of currency and vintage advertising, Fairey makes a pointed political message palatable and disarming, a strategy central to his propaganda-inspired practice. The bomb-as-baby device is darkly memorable, turning a tender family scene into a warning about national priorities. Collectors value the large-format works for their scale and presentation on hand-deckled archival cotton, which elevates a street-rooted aesthetic to fine-print status. As part of the 2019 large-format release at $900, signed and numbered in an edition of 89 with a certificate of authenticity, the print sits at the intersection of Fairey's anti-war and consumer-critique threads. Its blend of Americana imagery and anti-war messaging makes it a strong representative of how Fairey weaponizes nostalgia, asking viewers to question the values embedded in everyday symbols of prosperity and patriotism.
Collector Perspective
This print appeals to collectors drawn to Fairey's politically charged, satirical work rather than his purely iconographic pieces. The currency aesthetic and dark family tableau give it conversational, statement-piece appeal, well suited to a wall where the owner wants visual intrigue plus a critique of consumerism and militarism. At 30 x 41 inches on hand-deckled cotton rag, it reads as a substantial fine-print object, fitting collections organized around anti-war themes, Americana critique, or Fairey's large-format series. The numbered edition of 89 makes it relatively scarce among his releases, appealing to collectors who prioritize lower edition sizes. It pairs naturally with other 2019 large-format works for those building a cohesive set from that release.
Historical Context
Proud Parents originated during the second term of the George W. Bush presidency, when Fairey was producing a body of work questioning skewed national values and the role of money in fueling them. Its 2019 release as a signed, numbered large-format screen print of 89 reflects Fairey's later practice of revisiting earlier imagery at larger scale on premium archival paper. The print belongs to his long-running engagement with anti-war and consumer-critique themes, using the visual vocabulary of currency and vintage Americana to satirize militarism and middle-class complacency. It fits within his Posters and Propaganda era of appropriating familiar graphic forms to deliver dissenting messages, extending the strategy he honed on the street into the gallery print market.
FAQ
What is the edition size of Proud Parents (Large Format)?
It is a numbered edition of 89, signed by Shepard Fairey and published by Obey Giant in 2019. Each print comes with a certificate of authenticity. The large-format version measures 30 x 41 inches.
What does the imagery in Proud Parents mean?
A couple cradles a bomb as if it were their child, framed in a vintage, currency-inspired design. Fairey uses the scene to critique skewed national values and the prioritization of military spending over education, rendering a dystopian view of the American family.
What materials is the print made of?
It is a serigraph (screen print) on Coventry Rag, 100% cotton custom archival paper with hand-deckled edges, measuring 30 x 41 inches. It was published by Obey Giant in 2019 at an original price of $900.
When was the concept created?
Per the source, the work was created during the second term of the George W. Bush presidency, questioning the role of money in furthering skewed national values. This large-format signed edition was released in 2019.
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.