Gauntlet Gallery
What is Shepard Fairey’s piece called “Only The Finest Poison”?
Artist Statement
This "Only the Finest Poison" print is a critique of the many methods the oil industries use to maintain business as usual, including deceptive marketing, bribing politicians, discrediting science, and concealing the truth. The news clipping included in the piece is a portion of an article revealing that ExxonMobile has known, based on their internal scientific research, for over 40 years that burning fossil fuels is warming the planet. Yet, they hid the research and publicly denied the impact of fossil fuels on climate change. It is challenging to break through the formidable layers of deterrence put in place by the powerful corporations who put profits before people and the planet, but breaking through is essential to a healthy future. A portion of proceeds from this print will benefit Greenpeace USA to support their work to fight climate change. Thanks for caring. The speckletone paper used in this print is composed of recycled material. –Shepard Only the Finest Poison. 18 x 24 inches. Screen print on thick cream Speckletone paper. Signed by Shepard Fairey. Numbered edition of 550. Comes with a Digital Certificate of Authenticity provided by Verisart. $60.
Summary
Only The Finest Poison is a 2023 Shepard Fairey screen print, 18 x 24 inches, on thick cream Speckletone recycled paper, published by Obey Giant in a signed, numbered first edition of 550. The image critiques the oil industry's tactics for preserving business as usual, including deceptive marketing, bribing politicians, discrediting science, and concealing the truth. The piece incorporates a news clipping referencing internal ExxonMobil research showing the company knew for over 40 years that burning fossil fuels warms the planet while publicly denying it. Fairey argues that breaking through corporate deterrence is essential to a healthy future. A portion of proceeds benefits Greenpeace USA, and the print includes a Verisart digital certificate of authenticity.
Why It Matters
Only The Finest Poison is a pointed corporate-critique print that names the oil industry's specific tactics, deceptive marketing, political bribery, discrediting science, and concealment, rather than offering generic environmental sentiment. Like its companion releases, it embeds an actual news clipping about ExxonMobil's suppressed climate research, turning the artwork into a piece of documentary advocacy. That specificity is what differentiates it: it is less a landscape lament than an indictment of organized deception. The work belongs to a tight 2023 cluster of Greenpeace-benefit climate prints that share imagery, paper, and messaging, making it a key node in Fairey's environmental project. The recycled Speckletone paper aligns the medium with the message, and the Greenpeace proceeds tie reinforces the activist intent the source states. For collectors, it is an accessible, representative example of how Fairey fuses fine-art screen printing with editorial argument about corporate power and climate accountability. Its smaller 18 x 24 format and lower price point make it an entry point into his environmental series without sacrificing the thematic weight of the larger pieces.
Collector Perspective
This print suits collectors drawn to Fairey's environmental activism and to work with an explicit corporate-accountability message. At an accessible original price and a portrait 18 x 24 format, it is an approachable entry into his climate series and pairs naturally with companion 2023 Greenpeace-benefit prints in a thematic grouping. The recycled paper and Verisart certificate appeal to buyers who value provenance and production ethics. With an edition of 550, it targets collectors building breadth across his social-issue output rather than chasing scarcity. Its documentary news-clipping element makes it especially appealing to those who appreciate art that functions as argument as well as image.
Historical Context
Only The Finest Poison sits within Fairey's mature environmental activism of the 2020s, dated March 2023 and part of a concentrated run of climate prints that year. It shares the ExxonMobil news-clipping motif, the Speckletone recycled paper, the Verisart certificate, and the Greenpeace USA proceeds tie with its companion releases, marking a coherent body of work focused on corporate accountability for climate change. Within his arc, the piece reflects his evolution from earlier OBEY and political-poster work toward issue-driven editorial printmaking, where the artwork carries documented arguments. Published by Obey Giant, it exemplifies the contemporary standards and activist orientation of his later catalog, using street-art-derived graphic language to press for climate regulation.
FAQ
What does Only The Finest Poison critique?
It critiques the oil industry's methods for maintaining business as usual, including deceptive marketing, bribing politicians, discrediting science, and concealing the truth. The print includes a news clipping about ExxonMobil knowing for over 40 years that burning fossil fuels warms the planet while publicly denying it.
What are the size and edition details?
It is 18 x 24 inches, a screen print on thick cream Speckletone recycled paper, signed by Shepard Fairey and numbered within an edition of 550. Each comes with a digital Certificate of Authenticity provided by Verisart, per the source.
Does this print support a cause?
Yes. According to the source, a portion of proceeds benefits Greenpeace USA to support its work fighting climate change.
Who published it and at what price?
Only The Finest Poison was published by Obey Giant in 2023 and was originally offered at 60 dollars, making it one of the more accessible entries in Fairey's environmental print series.
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.