Gauntlet Gallery
What is Shepard Fairey’s piece called “Warning Addictive (Second Edition)”?
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 (Second Edition) is the 2020 Obey Giant art print companion to the Warning Addictive skate deck. It is an 18 x 24 inch screen print on thick white Speckletone paper, signed by Shepard Fairey and issued in a numbered edition of 250. The design honors Andy Howell and New Deal Skateboards, drawing on Fairey's long admiration for Howell's art and the early-'90s shift in skate culture toward graffiti and hip-hop aesthetics. The print form makes the tribute available as a framable fine-art object, complementing the functional skate-deck version from the same release.
Why It Matters
As the print counterpart to the Warning Addictive skate deck, this edition translates Fairey's skate-and-street-culture homage into a traditional framable format. The work matters because it documents the lineage Fairey openly credits for his own development as an artist: the DIY ethos of skate and punk, and specifically Andy Howell's role in shifting skateboarding's visual identity 'from skulls and dragons to graffiti and hip-hop.' For collectors, the screen print on Speckletone paper carries the materials and signature collectors expect from an Obey Giant release, and at an edition of 250 it is scarcer than the companion deck (edition of 400). That makes it the more limited of the two formats for the same design, a meaningful distinction for completists deciding which to acquire. Its appeal is rooted in cultural authenticity rather than political messaging: it is a sincere tribute within a community Fairey belonged to, which gives it staying power with skate-culture collectors and Obey followers who prioritize works tied to the artist's personal origin story over purely decorative pieces.
Collector Perspective
This print suits collectors who want the wall-ready, framable version of the Warning Addictive tribute rather than the skate deck. It appeals to Obey completists and to skate-culture enthusiasts who connect with the Andy Howell and New Deal Skateboards homage. The 18 x 24 inch screen print on Speckletone paper is a familiar, displayable Obey format, and its edition of 250 makes it the more limited of the two release formats, which collectors weighing scarcity will note. It pairs naturally with the companion deck for those wanting both. Buyers drawn to Fairey's narrative of skate and punk DIY roots will value this as an authentic, story-driven piece.
Historical Context
Issued September 2020 by Obey Giant, this print belongs to a period in which Fairey repeatedly revisited the skate and punk subcultures that shaped him. The accompanying statement recalls his fandom of Andy Howell since the late 1980s and the 1990 founding of New Deal Skateboards, positioning the work as a tribute to a turning point when skater-owned companies redefined the culture. It exemplifies Fairey's practice of releasing a single design across multiple formats, here the print alongside a skate deck. Within his career arc this sits among his collaboration- and homage-driven later output, where personal cultural reverence rather than overt activism drives the subject.
FAQ
What are the dimensions and materials of this print?
It is an 18 x 24 inch screen print on thick white Speckletone paper, signed by Shepard Fairey. It was published by Obey Giant in 2020 as the art-print companion to the Warning Addictive skate deck.
How large is the edition?
The print is a numbered edition of 250, making it more limited than the companion skate deck, which was issued in an edition of 400. Both formats share the same Warning Addictive design and 2020 release.
What does the artwork commemorate?
It honors Andy Howell and New Deal Skateboards. Fairey describes admiring Howell's art since the late 1980s and watching New Deal launch in 1990, crediting the company with steering skate aesthetics toward graffiti and hip-hop and pioneering skater-owned, street-focused culture.
Is this print signed?
Yes. The source states the art print is signed by Shepard Fairey and numbered within an edition of 250.
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.