Gauntlet Gallery
What is Shepard Fairey’s piece called “Styles Change - Style Endures (Black)”?
Artist Statement
Skateboarding saved my life! As both an activity and culture, skateboarding blew the doors open for me to see how creativity, fearlessness, independence, and style could let me paint my own story. To paraphrase Charles Bukowski, everything, worth saying or doing, dull or dangerous, is better with style. I learned the importance of style from skateboarding but I apply style to my art and pretty much anything else I can. My friend Blaize Blouin, the only pro skater from Charleston, S.C., where I grew up, used to say "trendy tricks come and go, but the need for style is constant". When I picked up Hugh Holland's Silver Skate 70's book I was enthralled by all of the photos, but especially gripped by the shot of an unknown kid doing a stylish backside carve at the Kenter Canyon School banks in 1976. That backside carve photo viscerally reminded me what the essence of style in skateboarding looks like (and feels like). That kid could be doing a backside Smith grind on a half-pipe in the 80's or a backside Smith on a railing last week. My point is that style in skateboarding is timeless, and once you've learned it, or at least witnessed it, you always pay your proper respects. This letterpress print collaboration with Hugh Holland, called "Styles Change-Style Endures," uses CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black) to represent the full spectrum and diversity of styles and flavors in the skaters palette that also opens minds for the possibilities in life. "Styles Change- Style Endures" is not just my way of paying my proper respects to style in skateboarding, but also paying my respects to authentic voices in skateboard culture who chronicle the past and the future. Juice Magazine has been a voice for core skateboarding, music, and art for 25 years. They did their first feature on me in 1998 and we've worked together many times over the years. Running a print mag is always a tough business, for love not money, but is especially challenging during a pandemic. Juice is in financial distress and I want to help. Proceeds from these prints will help Juice stay in biz, but they also have a GoFundMe you can support to keep them in print. Thanks for caring! -Shepard Styles Change-Style Endures, 4 colorways: Black, Magenta, Cyan & Yellow. 14.5 x 19 inches. Letterpress on cream cotton paper with hand-deckled edges. Original photo by Hugh Holland. Signed by Shepard Fairey and Hugh Holland. Numbered edition of 115. $85.
Summary
Styles Change - Style Endures (Black) is a 2020 letterpress print measuring 14.5 x 19 inches on cream cotton paper with hand-deckled edges, signed by both Shepard Fairey and photographer Hugh Holland, in a numbered edition of 115, priced at $85. It is the black colorway of a four-part CMYK set (Black, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow). Based on Holland's 1976 photograph of a skater doing a backside carve at Kenter Canyon School, the collaboration celebrates skateboarding culture and the timeless quality of style. Proceeds support Juice Magazine, a long-running skate, music, and art publication in financial distress during the pandemic.
Why It Matters
Styles Change - Style Endures is a deeply personal Fairey collaboration that ties his origin story to skateboarding culture and to documentary photographer Hugh Holland. In the source, Fairey credits skateboarding with teaching him creativity, fearlessness, independence, and style, and the print is built around Holland's 1976 photo of an unknown kid doing a stylish backside carve at the Kenter Canyon School banks. The CMYK colorway concept, with Black, Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow versions, is conceptually meaningful: Fairey uses the four printing colors to represent the full spectrum and diversity of styles in skate culture. That makes the four-print set more than a color variation gimmick. The benefit angle is specific: proceeds help Juice Magazine, a 25-year voice for core skateboarding, music, and art that did its first feature on Fairey in 1998 and was in financial distress during the pandemic. Signed by both Fairey and Holland and limited to just 115, this black colorway is the most collectible of the set in many collectors' eyes. For buyers it documents Fairey's roots, honors skate-culture history, and supports an independent publication, a rich combination of personal narrative, collaboration, and cause.
Collector Perspective
This is a magnet for skateboarding-culture collectors, fans of Hugh Holland's 1970s photography, and Fairey collaboration completists. The dual signatures of Fairey and Holland and the very small edition of 115 give it strong collectible appeal, and the black colorway is often the anchor of the four-part CMYK set for set collectors. At 14.5 x 19 inches on hand-deckled cream cotton, it has a refined, gallery-ready presentation. Its origin in a 1976 skate photograph and its benefit to Juice Magazine give it a layered story that resonates with collectors who value provenance and cause. It pairs naturally with Fairey's other skate-culture and collaboration prints, making it a centerpiece for a skateboarding-themed grouping.
Historical Context
The print connects directly to Fairey's biography, as he traces his artistic awakening to skateboarding and credits the culture with shaping his sense of style. The collaboration with Hugh Holland, whose Silver Skate 70's photography documented Southern California skate culture, links Fairey's work to that visual archive. By dedicating proceeds to Juice Magazine, a publication that first featured him in 1998, the print also honors the independent media that chronicled his early scene. Released in 2020 amid pandemic pressures on print media, it sits within Fairey's collaboration and culture output, distinct from his concurrent political and environmental benefit prints while sharing their charitable structure.
FAQ
Who did Fairey collaborate with on this print?
He collaborated with photographer Hugh Holland, whose 1976 photograph of a skater doing a backside carve at the Kenter Canyon School banks is the basis of the art. The print is signed by both Shepard Fairey and Hugh Holland, in a numbered edition of 115.
What is the CMYK colorway concept?
The print comes in four colorways named for the printing colors: Black, Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow. Fairey uses CMYK to represent the full spectrum and diversity of styles in skate culture, making the four-print set a unified concept rather than simple color variants. This listing is the Black colorway.
What cause does this print support?
Proceeds help Juice Magazine, a 25-year voice for core skateboarding, music, and art that did its first feature on Fairey in 1998. The source notes Juice was in financial distress during the pandemic, and the print aims to help keep the publication in business.
What are the specifications?
It is a letterpress print measuring 14.5 x 19 inches on cream cotton paper with hand-deckled edges, using Hugh Holland's original photo. Signed by both Fairey and Holland, it is a numbered edition of 115 priced at $85.
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.