Gauntlet Gallery
What is Shepard Fairey’s piece called “Beastie Boys: Stand Together! (Red)”?
Artist Statement
I first heard about the Beastie Boys in 1985/86 because they were on a hardcore compilation album called "New York Thrash," which also featured Bad Brains, whose name I later discovered had inspired the Beastie Boys' choice of a name using BB initials. When the Beastie Boys' album "Licensed to Ill" came out, I was intrigued and exhilarated by their metamorphosis into a hip-hop group because I had mainly been listening to punk. Even though I liked RUN-DMC and the hip-hop from Beat Street and Breakin', I felt awkward being into hip-hop as a white kid. "Licensed to Ill" was instantly infectious and a thrilling sonic encapsulation of bratty teen rebellion. It was (and is) a great hip-hop album, but it threw in punk and metal references and samples along with the hip-hop ingredients and amazing rhymes. The Beasties blew the doors open for me to embrace other hip-hop like LL Cool J, Public Enemy, Boogie Down Productions, N.W.A., and Slick Rick. "Licensed to Ill" was a life-changing album for me, but also the album that supercharged the crossover of hip-hop to the mainstream begun by RUN-DMC. The only prominent portrait poster of the Beastie Boys that I saw in the record stores of Charleston, SC at the time was a photo taken by Glen E. Friedman of the Adidas-clad Ad-Rock and Mike D sitting on a skateboard with MCA jumping off the Washington Square Park arch in the background. That image is beautifully composed and transports me to my teenage self, who lived for music, skateboarding, and jumping off of stuff. I'm honored to collaborate with Glen on a print based on another photo from that same Washington Square Park session. I think the image conveys the energy and camaraderie of the Beasties as their musical careers were about to explode and transform culture over the course of several masterpiece albums. –Shepard This Beastie Boys collaboration was originally created to celebrate the release of my book TOGETHER FOREVER that brought together all my best photographs of Beasties and Run-DMC. Shepard and I, as always, piece things together with several goals in mind. It was really important to make something reflective of all of my work with these guys and also celebrate their roots in New York City. And what expresses that better than them under the Washington Square park Arch (originally dedicated in 1895) in the center of the cultural mecca that is Greenwich Village? The humor, fun and enthusiasm is as clear as the landmark marble detail surrounding them. All of the other images and ephemera in the lower quadrant are rooted in other photos of mine of them over the years. Celebration of these incredible creative artists is full circle for me with this illustration. Also, my "BURNING FLAGS tour" photography exhibition is coming to Paris, France opening July 20th at 3537! –Glen E. Friedman Beastie Boys: Stand Together! (Two Colorways: Red & Blue). A limited amount of matching numbered sets will be available for $200. Red and Blue sold separately for $100. 18 x 24 inches. Screen print on thick cream Speckletone paper. Original Illustration based on photograph by Glen E. Friedman. Signed by Ad-Rock, Glen E. Friedman, Mike D, and Shepard Fairey. Numbered edition of 250. Comes with a Digital Certificate of Authenticity provided by Verisart. $100.
Summary
Beastie Boys: Stand Together! is a 2023 screen print by Shepard Fairey, released in two colorways, Red and Blue, in a numbered edition of 250 each. Measuring 18 x 24 inches on thick cream Speckletone paper, the original illustration is based on a photograph by Glen E. Friedman from a Washington Square Park session, depicting the Beastie Boys at the start of their career. Signed by Ad-Rock, Glen E. Friedman, Mike D, and Shepard Fairey, it comes with a Digital Certificate of Authenticity provided by Verisart. The Red and Blue editions sold separately at $100, with matching numbered sets also offered. The image conveys the group's energy and camaraderie.
Why It Matters
This print sits at the intersection of music history, street-art photography, and Fairey's own coming-of-age narrative. In his statement he describes first hearing the Beastie Boys around 1985-86 via the New York Thrash hardcore compilation and calls Licensed to Ill a life-changing album that opened the door for him to embrace hip-hop, naming a chain of artists from LL Cool J to N.W.A. The image draws on Glen E. Friedman's Washington Square Park photographs, the same session that produced the iconic record-store poster Fairey remembers from teenage Charleston, giving the print a documented lineage to a defining moment in hip-hop's mainstream crossover. The collaboration originated with Friedman's book Together Forever, which gathered his photographs of the Beasties and Run-DMC, and the print celebrates their New York roots beneath the Washington Square arch. With signatures from surviving members Ad-Rock and Mike D alongside Friedman and Fairey, the piece carries unusual authority for a music print. For collectors, the multi-signature provenance, the Friedman photographic source, and the cultural weight of the subject make it a standout in Fairey's music-themed catalog.
Collector Perspective
This is a prime target for music and hip-hop collectors, fans of the Beastie Boys, and admirers of Glen E. Friedman's documentary photography, as well as Fairey collectors who focus on his music series. Its strongest draw is the multi-artist signature set, Ad-Rock, Glen E. Friedman, Mike D, and Shepard Fairey, which gives the piece rare provenance for a music print. The two colorways, Red and Blue, let collectors pursue a single edition or the matching numbered set, adding a completist dimension. At 18 x 24 inches it frames cleanly and reads as both an art object and a music artifact. Collectors building a music or counterculture group, or one centered on New York scene history, will find it a high-interest anchor, supported by a numbered edition of 250 and a Verisart certificate.
Historical Context
Released in 2023, this print belongs to Fairey's ongoing music-and-counterculture series and ties directly to his formative years as a punk-and-hip-hop fan in the mid-1980s. By building on Glen E. Friedman's Washington Square Park photographs, it connects to the visual documentation of hip-hop's mainstream crossover, a moment Fairey credits Run-DMC and the Beastie Boys with supercharging. The collaboration grew out of Friedman's book Together Forever and celebrates the group's Greenwich Village roots under the Washington Square arch, originally dedicated in 1895. Within Fairey's arc it exemplifies his practice of translating defining music photography into screen prints that honor both the subjects and the photographers, extending a body of work that pays tribute to the punk and hip-hop figures who shaped his sensibility.
FAQ
Who signed this print?
It is signed by Ad-Rock, Glen E. Friedman, Mike D, and Shepard Fairey. The original illustration is based on a photograph by Glen E. Friedman, giving the print multi-artist provenance that is unusual for a music print.
What colorways and edition size were released?
It was released in two colorways, Red and Blue, each in a numbered edition of 250. The Red and Blue editions sold separately for $100, and a limited number of matching numbered sets were also offered.
What is the source image?
The illustration is based on a Glen E. Friedman photograph from a Washington Square Park session, depicting the Beastie Boys early in their career. The collaboration was created to celebrate Friedman's book Together Forever and the group's New York City roots.
What are the dimensions and materials?
The print measures 18 x 24 inches and is a screen print on thick cream Speckletone paper. It comes with a Digital Certificate of Authenticity provided by Verisart, the standard documentation for Obey Giant releases of this period.
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.