Gauntlet Gallery
What is Shepard Fairey’s piece called “Warning Addictive (Skate Deck)”?
Artist Statement
I've been a big fan of Andy Howell's art and skateboarding since the late '80s, and I watched eagerly as he and his partners launched New Deal Skateboards in 1990. New Deal was groundbreaking not only because skaters creatively led it, but because Andy Howell's art and design almost instantly shifted the aesthetics and style of skateboarding from skulls and dragons to graffiti and hip-hop. New Deal was the first company primarily focused on street skating and street culture, and their smart, funny, ads celebrated their role as the "power to the people," "ear to the street" vanguard of skater-owned-and-run companies. Straight out of the gate New Deal set the tone for the '90s. -Shepard Warning Addictive Art Print. 18 x 24 inches. Screen print on thick white Speckletone paper. Signed by Shepard Fairey. Numbered edition of 250. $50. Skate Deck Details: Warning Addictive Skate Deck. Numbered edition of 400. Signed by Shepard Fairey. $85.
Summary
Warning Addictive (Skate Deck) is a 2020 Obey Giant release celebrating Andy Howell and New Deal Skateboards. This version is a skate deck measuring 80 x 20 cm, issued in a signed, numbered edition of 400. The companion art print, also documented in the source, is an 18 x 24 inch screen print on Speckletone paper in an edition of 250. The design grew from Fairey's admiration for Howell's art and the early-'90s shift in skate culture toward graffiti and hip-hop aesthetics. The deck functions as both a usable board and a collectible object honoring skate and street-culture history.
Why It Matters
This release sits at the intersection of Fairey's two formative subcultures: skateboarding and street art. In his own words, Fairey traces his artistic origins to the DIY ethos of skate and punk culture, and Warning Addictive directly honors Andy Howell and New Deal Skateboards, the company Fairey credits with shifting skate aesthetics 'from skulls and dragons to graffiti and hip-hop.' For collectors, the piece is a tangible link between Fairey's personal influences and the broader cultural movement that shaped his visual language. The skate-deck format makes it especially desirable to the cross-collector audience that values functional art objects and skate ephemera alongside fine-art prints. As a signed and numbered edition of 400, it is more accessible than smaller-run releases while still carrying the documentation collectors expect. Its value rests less on overt political messaging and more on authentic homage within a community Fairey came up in, which gives it durable appeal to skate-culture and Obey completists who want an object that embodies the origin story Fairey tells about his own creative roots.
Collector Perspective
This appeals to two overlapping groups: dedicated Obey collectors who pursue every format Fairey releases, and skate-culture enthusiasts drawn to the Andy Howell and New Deal Skateboards homage. The deck format gives it display flexibility, working as a mounted wall object rather than a framed print, which suits collectors who want something sculptural. At an edition of 400 it is one of the more attainable 2020 releases, making it a reasonable entry point. It pairs naturally with the companion art print (edition of 250) for those wanting both formats. Collectors who value Fairey's personal narrative and his roots in skate and street culture will find this a meaningful, character-rich addition rather than a purely decorative one.
Historical Context
Released September 2020 through Obey Giant, this deck belongs to a stretch of Fairey's career where he frequently revisited the skate and punk subcultures that shaped him. The accompanying text explicitly recalls his fandom of Andy Howell since the late 1980s and the 1990 launch of New Deal Skateboards, framing the work as a tribute to a pivotal moment when skater-owned companies redefined the culture. It reflects Fairey's ongoing practice of producing both fine-art prints and functional collectible objects from a single design, and of honoring the creative lineage he came from. Within his arc, it is less an activist statement than a personal cultural homage, consistent with the collaboration-driven output of his later career.
FAQ
What is the edition size of the Warning Addictive skate deck?
The skate deck is a signed, numbered edition of 400, hand-signed by Shepard Fairey. A separate companion art print exists in a smaller numbered edition of 250, so the deck is the larger of the two formats released under the Warning Addictive title in 2020.
Who or what does Warning Addictive honor?
It honors Andy Howell and New Deal Skateboards. Fairey writes that he admired Howell's art since the late 1980s and watched New Deal launch in 1990, crediting the company with shifting skate aesthetics toward graffiti and hip-hop and pioneering skater-owned, street-focused culture.
Is this a usable skate deck or a print?
This release is the skate deck format, measuring 80 x 20 cm, published by Obey Giant in 2020. The source also documents a companion 18 x 24 inch screen print on Speckletone paper, but this record specifically covers the signed and numbered deck.
Is the deck signed?
Yes. The source states the skate deck is signed by Shepard Fairey and is part of a numbered edition of 400.
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.