Gauntlet Gallery
What is Shepard Fairey’s piece called “American Rage (Offset Lithograph)”?
Artist Statement
American Rage. 24 x 36 inches. Offset print on cream Speckletone paper. Original photo by Ted Soqui. Signed by Shepard Fairey. $45. Proceeds go to Black Lives Matter.
Summary
American Rage is a 2020 offset lithograph by Shepard Fairey, printed on cream Speckletone paper at 24 x 36 inches and published by Obey Giant. The image is built from an original photograph by Ted Soqui and translated into Fairey's bold, high-contrast poster idiom. Signed by Fairey and priced at $45, the print was released with proceeds going to Black Lives Matter. It pairs a documentary photographic base with Fairey's graphic protest aesthetic, addressing American anger, injustice, and the demand for social change. The work sits among Fairey's accessible, cause-tied offset releases from the charged summer of 2020.
Why It Matters
American Rage captures Shepard Fairey responding in near real time to the unrest of 2020, a year defined by protest over racial injustice in the United States. By building the image from Ted Soqui's documentary photograph rather than an invented icon, Fairey grounds his protest art in lived reality, then amplifies it through his signature high-contrast graphic treatment. The decision to direct proceeds to Black Lives Matter ties the object directly to the movement it depicts, making it both an artwork and a fundraising act. For collectors, this is a clear example of Fairey's long-running practice of merging street-art urgency with cause-based publishing: an affordable, signed offset that put activist imagery into many hands rather than a rarefied few. It belongs to a recognizable cluster of 2020 political and collaborative releases through Obey Giant, and its low original price reflects Fairey's intent to maximize reach and impact. The work matters as a document of a specific moment in American political emotion, expressed in the visual language Fairey has used for decades to mobilize attention and sympathy toward social-justice causes.
Collector Perspective
This print appeals to collectors who focus on Shepard Fairey's political and social-justice output and to those who value works tied to specific historical moments like the 2020 protests. As a signed offset lithograph at an accessible original price, it suits entry-level and mid-level Fairey collectors as well as activist-art enthusiasts who appreciate that proceeds supported Black Lives Matter. At 24 x 36 inches it is a substantial, display-friendly size that works well framed in a contemporary or politically themed collection. It fits naturally alongside Fairey's other 2020 cause-driven offsets and collaboration-based works, offering thematic coherence for anyone assembling a grouping around democracy, protest, and American social tension.
Historical Context
American Rage falls within Fairey's prolific 2020 run of offset lithographs and screen prints responding to the political and social upheaval of that election year and the racial-justice protests that swept the United States. Building on the documentary-photo-plus-graphic-treatment approach he refined over the OBEY years, Fairey here collaborates with photographer Ted Soqui to fix a moment of public anger in his recognizable poster style. The piece sits in the same publishing wave as his other 2020 Obey Giant releases that tied affordable signed editions to specific causes, continuing the artist's decades-long strategy of using accessible printed multiples as both artwork and activist tool. It reflects the Modern Activism phase of his career, in which timely political subjects and charitable proceeds are central.
FAQ
What are the dimensions and medium of American Rage?
American Rage is an offset lithograph measuring 24 x 36 inches, printed on cream Speckletone paper. It was published by Obey Giant in 2020 and is signed by Shepard Fairey. The image is based on an original photograph by Ted Soqui, translated into Fairey's high-contrast graphic style.
Did proceeds from this print support a cause?
Yes. According to the source description, proceeds from American Rage went to Black Lives Matter. The print was released at an original price of $45, reflecting Fairey's practice of pairing accessible signed editions with charitable fundraising during the 2020 social-justice protests.
Who took the original photograph?
The original photograph used for American Rage was taken by Ted Soqui. Shepard Fairey adapted that documentary image into his signature poster-style graphic treatment, then signed the resulting offset lithograph.
When was American Rage released?
American Rage was released in 2020, dated July 9, 2020 in the source record, and published by Obey Giant. It is part of Fairey's prolific 2020 output of cause-tied political prints.
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.