Gauntlet Gallery
What is Shepard Fairey’s piece called “Bad Brains - Fist & Flag”?
Artist Statement
Bad Brains are one of my favorite punk/hardcore groups of all time. I've been a Bad Brains fan for 30-plus years and am lucky to work with them on a few projects, including prints, a clothing collection, and the cover of their album "Into the Future." Glen E. Friedman shot many great photos of Bad Brains, and his photo of HR at A7 bar in New York City from 1981 is the reference for this poster illustration. It's an incredible honor to create art and to be connected to a band that has provided so much inspiration, energy, and sheer pleasure for me over the years. This poster is signed by Glen, me, and HR! Keep that PMA (Positive Mental Attitude)! –Shepard Bad Brains – Fist & Flag. 24 x 18 inches. Screen print on thick cream Speckletone paper. Original photo by Glen E. Friedman. Signed by Glen E. Friedman, Shepard Fairey, & HR. Numbered edition of 600. $80.
Summary
Bad Brains - Fist & Flag is a 2022 screen print by Shepard Fairey, 24 x 18 inches, printed on thick cream Speckletone paper in a numbered edition of 600. The image illustrates HR of the hardcore punk band Bad Brains, based on a 1981 Glen E. Friedman photograph shot at the A7 bar in New York City. The composition incorporates a fist-and-flag motif tied to the band's identity and its Positive Mental Attitude (PMA) ethos. Published by Obey Giant, the print is signed by Glen E. Friedman, Shepard Fairey, and HR. It celebrates Fairey's decades-long connection to a band central to his creative formation.
Why It Matters
This print sits at the intersection of Shepard Fairey's music fandom and his collaborative practice, drawing on a Glen E. Friedman photograph from the foundational era of American hardcore punk. Bad Brains are among the most influential hardcore bands, and Fairey states he has been a fan for over 30 years, having worked with them on prints, clothing, and an album cover. The triple signature of photographer Glen E. Friedman, Fairey, and band frontman HR makes this an unusually well-documented collaboration that connects three creative figures around a single image. For collectors, the appeal is layered: it is both a Fairey graphic and an authentic punk artifact tied to a documented 1981 moment at New York's A7 bar. The fist-and-flag iconography and PMA message reinforce the band's themes of resilience and positivity, themes Fairey has long aligned with in his own work. As part of a recurring strand of music-counterculture prints, it strengthens any collection focused on Fairey's punk and hardcore tributes, and rewards collectors who value provenance, cross-disciplinary collaboration, and the cultural weight of the source photograph.
Collector Perspective
This appeals to collectors who follow Fairey's music and counterculture prints, as well as punk and hardcore fans drawn to Bad Brains specifically. The triple signature from Friedman, Fairey, and HR is a strong draw for those who prize documented collaboration and provenance. At a 24 x 18 inch scale on cream Speckletone paper, it displays well alongside other music tribute prints and in spaces themed around punk history. With an edition of 600, it is accessible to mid-level collectors rather than only top-tier buyers. It fits naturally into a music-focused Fairey grouping, particularly next to his other punk and hardcore subjects, and rewards collectors building a narrative around the artists who shaped his creative sensibility.
Historical Context
The print belongs to Fairey's ongoing series of music tributes produced through Obey Giant, dated 2022. It draws directly on Glen E. Friedman's 1981 photograph of HR at the A7 bar, anchoring it to the early-1980s New York hardcore scene that Friedman documented extensively. Fairey describes a multi-decade relationship with Bad Brains spanning prints, a clothing collection, and the cover of their album Into the Future, situating this release within a long collaborative arc rather than a one-off. Within his broader practice, music and counterculture subjects have been a consistent thread alongside his political and environmental work, and this print extends that lineage into the 2020s while preserving the documentary value of the original photograph.
FAQ
What is the edition size of Bad Brains - Fist & Flag?
It is a numbered screen print in an edition of 600, published in 2022 by Obey Giant. It measures 24 x 18 inches and is printed on thick cream Speckletone paper. Each print is signed, and it was originally released at a price of $80.
Who signed this print?
According to the source, the print is signed by three people: photographer Glen E. Friedman, artist Shepard Fairey, and Bad Brains frontman HR. This triple signature documents a collaboration between the photographer, the artist, and the band's singer.
What photograph is the image based on?
The illustration is based on a photograph by Glen E. Friedman of HR at the A7 bar in New York City, taken in 1981. Friedman shot many images of Bad Brains, and Fairey cites this specific photo as the reference for the poster.
What is the medium and paper?
It is a screen print produced on thick cream Speckletone paper, sized 24 x 18 inches. It was published by Obey Giant in 2022 as a numbered edition of 600.
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.