What is Shepard Fairey’s piece called “WK / Shepard Portrait”?

Artist Statement

I've known WK for almost 25 years, but I admired his art for many years before that. When I started putting art up on the streets of NY in the early 90s, WK had some of the best murals around lower Manhattan. We've collaborated a few times over the years, and when I was in NYC in December, WK shot some portraits of me as part of an artist homage series. Usually, I'm uncomfortable being the subject of art pieces, but I love what he did with the final art because it merges our aesthetics very harmoniously… and my face is less of the focus! I'm honored by what WK did, and we'll be releasing a collaborative print based on his fine art imagery of this on Thursday, 5/18 @ 10 AM PDT. –Shepard In 2009, I was invited by Shepard Fairey to have a solo show at the Subliminal Project Gallery in Los Angeles. 14 years later, I have the pleasure of visiting Subliminal Projects once again… to sign a new limited edition print, on which we collaborated. I met Shepard long ago… I've joined him on many adventures around the world, from Berlin, Japan, NYC, Los Angeles, Miami, Chicago, to Paris. Early on, I realized as we were hitting the streets with paste ups, that we shared something in common and that was the constant desire to work. Shepard was the first person to contact me and extend an invitation to participate in the game. I admire how sharp he is… he forgets nothing. I'm grateful that he let me paint his portrait, but I'm mostly honored to call him my friend. –WK WK / Shepard Portrait. 36 x 24 inches. Screen print on French Speckletone True White. Signed by WK and Shepard Fairey. Numbered edition of 450. Comes with a Digital Certificate of Authenticity provided by Verisart. $110.

Summary

WK / Shepard Portrait is a 2023 collaborative screen print between Shepard Fairey and the artist WK, published by Obey Giant in a signed, numbered first edition of 450. Measuring 36 x 24 inches on French Speckletone True White paper, the print is based on WK's fine art portrait of Fairey, created from photographs WK shot of him in December as part of an artist homage series. Signed by both WK and Shepard Fairey, it merges their two aesthetics. The print comes with a Digital Certificate of Authenticity provided by Verisart and was released at $110. It marks a friendship and creative relationship spanning nearly 25 years.

Why It Matters

This print is notable as a portrait of Fairey himself, a subject he says he is usually uncomfortable being. He explains that he loves WK's result because it merges their aesthetics harmoniously and makes his face less the focus, which gives the piece an unusually personal dimension within his catalog. The collaboration documents a long creative friendship: Fairey recounts admiring WK's lower-Manhattan murals when he began putting art on New York streets in the early 90s, and WK recalls Fairey inviting him to a 2009 solo show at the Subliminal Projects gallery in Los Angeles. Released to coincide with WK signing the print at Subliminal Projects fourteen years later, it carries a built-in narrative of mutual respect across decades and continents. For collectors, the merging of two distinct street-art aesthetics on a single signed sheet, plus the rarity of Fairey appearing as portrait subject rather than maker, distinguishes it from his more typical iconography. The horizontal 36 x 24 inch format and edition of 450 place it among the more substantial collaborative portraits of his recent output, anchored by the documented relationship between the two artists.

Collector Perspective

This is a natural fit for collectors of Fairey collaborations and for those drawn to artist-on-artist portraiture and street-art history. Its appeal rests on the dual signatures of WK and Fairey and the unusual fact that Fairey is the subject rather than the author, making it a conversation piece within a portrait-focused collection. The larger 36 x 24 inch horizontal format gives it presence on a wall and distinguishes it from standard upright prints. Collectors who value documented creative friendships and the merging of two recognizable aesthetics will find it a meaningful anchor. With a signed, numbered edition of 450 and a Verisart certificate, it offers the authentication assurances serious buyers expect while remaining accessible at its release price of $110.

Historical Context

Created in 2023, this print sits within Fairey's recent contemporary period and documents a creative relationship reaching back to the early 1990s New York street-art scene, where he first admired WK's murals around lower Manhattan. The release ties to WK's return to Subliminal Projects in Los Angeles, the gallery where Fairey had invited him to a solo show in 2009, fourteen years earlier. Rather than advancing Fairey's political or iconographic themes, the work belongs to his ongoing strand of collaborative portraiture and artist homages. It reflects how, in this era, Fairey increasingly uses prints to honor peers and document the networks of the street-art world he helped build, here turning the lens on himself by allowing another artist to portray him.

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Related Works

Greyson Fletcher - The Harmony Of Form And Style2024 · Another Fairey artist-collaboration portrait honoring a specific individual.

A Cracked Icon (First Edition)2024 · Recent collaborative print from the same contemporary period and theme.

In Honor Of Vincent Jen Chin2021 · Collaborative homage print centered on honoring a person, paralleling this tribute portrait.

Universal Personhood Lisbon2018 · Shares the portraits-and-legacy theme within Fairey's catalog.

Tom Petty: An American Treasure (Canvas)2018 · Another portrait-and-legacy tribute work focused on a single admired subject.