Gauntlet Gallery
What is Shepard Fairey’s piece called “Nixon Poster”?
Artist Statement
NIXON POSTER Screen Print 18 x 24 inches Edition of 200
Summary
Nixon Poster is a 2001 Shepard Fairey screen print published by Obey Giant in a first edition of 200, measuring 18 x 24 inches. The work renders former U.S. President Richard Nixon as a propaganda-style political portrait, channeling Fairey's signature high-contrast, poster-poster vocabulary of flat color, bold framing, and graphic iconography. Treating an emblem of American political power through the OBEY lens, it sits between portraiture and pointed political commentary. It is a mid-size early-period screen print characteristic of Fairey's Obey Giant studio output around 2001.
Why It Matters
Nixon Poster shows Fairey turning his propaganda machinery toward a real figure of American political power, an early step in the portrait-driven political work he would become famous for. Nixon, a loaded symbol of authority, surveillance, and institutional mistrust, is an apt subject for the OBEY system, which constantly probes how images compel obedience. For collectors, this 2001 piece sits in the formative Obey Giant period when Fairey was sharpening the visual grammar, flat planes, hard graphic edges, propaganda framing, that would later define his most recognized political portraits. The source-stated first edition of 200 keeps it a contained run. Within Fairey's catalog it bridges his pop-cultural icon prints and his explicitly political portraiture, connecting to other 2001 releases like Nixon Stamp Poster and Ministry of Information. The result is a work that documents an important methodological shift, applying the manufactured-icon treatment to an actual political leader, and gives collectors a clear, ownable example of how Fairey weaponizes portraiture to question power.
Collector Perspective
This print suits collectors drawn to Fairey's political and portrait work and to his early Obey Giant period. The Nixon subject anchors it firmly in American political iconography, making it a strong fit for collections organized around power, authority, and propaganda portraiture. At 18 x 24 inches it frames easily and pairs naturally with the related 2001 Nixon Stamp Poster for a focused two-piece grouping. Its bold, high-contrast graphic treatment gives it real wall presence among other early-2000s screen prints. With a documented first edition of 200, it offers collectors a moderately scarce, clearly themed entry point into Fairey's portrait-based political commentary without requiring a flagship-level acquisition.
Historical Context
Nixon Poster belongs to Fairey's early Obey Giant studio era around 2001, when he was extending the OBEY propaganda aesthetic from abstract iconography toward identifiable subjects. Applying his manufactured-icon visual language to a former U.S. president marks a meaningful move toward the political portraiture that later became central to his work. This period followed the late-1990s OBEY sticker and poster campaigns that established his street presence, and it set the stage for the more explicitly political screen prints of the mid-2000s. The print sits alongside other 2001 Obey Giant releases that treat power, governance, and information control as recurring subjects.
FAQ
Who is depicted in Nixon Poster?
It depicts former U.S. President Richard Nixon, rendered in Shepard Fairey's propaganda-poster style. The 2001 work applies his OBEY visual language to a recognizable figure of American political power.
What is the edition size and size of the print?
Per the source record it is a first edition of 200 and measures 18 x 24 inches. It was produced as a screen print and published by Obey Giant, Fairey's studio imprint.
Is there a related Nixon print?
Yes. The 2001 Nixon Stamp Poster shares the same subject and edition cohort, making the two natural companions for a focused grouping of Fairey's Nixon imagery from this period.
How scarce is this work?
With a stated first edition of 200 it sits in a moderately scarce tier. The source does not confirm availability or sold-out status, so this reflects documented edition size only, not current market supply.
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.