Gauntlet Gallery
What is Shepard Fairey’s piece called “The Big Sur Coast”?
Artist Statement
This Big Sur Coast print, created in partnership with The Fifty-Nine Parks Print Series, features the graceful and iconic Bixby Creek bridge along with a beautiful stretch of the California coastal cliffs and Pacific Ocean. I've been to this location in person several times, and it is breathtaking in any weather at any time of the year. I feel very lucky to have a system of parks in California preserved for public enjoyment and are valued landmarks. I think it is essential to keep some spaces dominated by nature for the sake of the environment and citizens' quality of life. Proceeds from this print will help maintain the parks. –Shepard The Big Sur Coast. 18 x 24 inches. Screen print on thick cream Speckletone paper. Signed by Shepard Fairey. Numbered edition of 600. $60.
Summary
The Big Sur Coast is a 2022 Shepard Fairey screen print, 18 x 24 inches, on thick cream Speckletone paper, signed and from a numbered First Edition of 600, priced at $60. Created in partnership with The Fifty-Nine Parks Print Series, it depicts the Bixby Creek bridge alongside California coastal cliffs and the Pacific Ocean. In his statement, Fairey describes visiting the location, his appreciation for California's preserved park system, and his belief in keeping nature-dominated spaces for the environment and public quality of life. Proceeds were directed to help maintain the parks.
Why It Matters
The Big Sur Coast marks a softer, landscape-driven entry in Fairey's environmental work, trading his usual confrontational graphics for a celebration of a specific, beloved place. As a collaboration with The Fifty-Nine Parks Print Series, the edition channels Fairey's name and audience toward park conservation, with proceeds supporting park maintenance, a concrete activist outcome rather than a purely symbolic gesture. The recognizable Bixby Creek bridge gives the print an immediately identifiable subject that resonates with anyone who knows the California coast, broadening its appeal beyond core Fairey collectors to landscape and place lovers. Fairey's first-person statement, describing repeated visits and his conviction that nature-dominated public spaces matter for both the environment and citizens' well-being, grounds the work in personal experience and reinforces its conservation message. At an edition of 600 it is one of his more widely available prints of the period, and its 18 x 24 signed, numbered format on Speckletone stock matches the studio's standard presentation. Within a collection, it bridges his environmental advocacy and his collaborative releases, offering a more scenic, accessible counterpoint to his harder-edged climate prints.
Collector Perspective
This print appeals to collectors who favor Fairey's environmental and conservation-themed work, fans of the Fifty-Nine Parks series, and those drawn to a recognizable California landmark in the Bixby Creek bridge. Its scenic subject and warm palette make it a versatile, broadly appealing wall piece that fits homes where harder political imagery might not. At a $60 issue price and an edition of 600 it is accessible and obtainable. It groups naturally with his other environmental and parks-related prints, and its conservation tie-in adds meaning for collectors who value editions that fund the causes they depict.
Historical Context
Published by Obey Giant in June 2022 in partnership with The Fifty-Nine Parks Print Series, The Big Sur Coast extends Fairey's environmental advocacy into landscape-based conservation, with proceeds directed to park maintenance. It reflects his recurring collaborations with conservation print programs and his belief, stated directly, in preserving public natural spaces. Within his arc, it sits among his 2020-2024 environmental editions, offering a place-specific, scenic counterpart to his more graphic climate-warning prints from the same period.
FAQ
What does The Big Sur Coast depict?
The print features the iconic Bixby Creek bridge along with a stretch of California coastal cliffs and the Pacific Ocean, capturing the Big Sur coastline that Fairey says he has visited in person several times.
Who was this print made with?
It was created in partnership with The Fifty-Nine Parks Print Series. In his statement, Fairey expresses appreciation for California's preserved park system, and proceeds from the print help maintain the parks.
What are the size, medium, and edition?
The Big Sur Coast is an 18 x 24 inch screen print on thick cream Speckletone paper, signed by Shepard Fairey. It is a numbered First Edition of 600, published by Obey Giant in 2022 at $60.
What cause does this print support?
Proceeds from the print help maintain the parks. Fairey's statement emphasizes the importance of preserving nature-dominated public spaces for both the environment and citizens' quality of life.
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.