Gauntlet Gallery
What is Shepard Fairey’s piece called “Johnny Ramone Smokin' Strings”?
Artist Statement
At the invitation of my friend Linda Ramone, I was honored to design the flyer for and DJ at the most recent Johnny Ramone tribute, which also screened the movie Pulp Fiction, one of my favorites. Linda liked the flyer design a lot and suggested I make a new illustration of Johnny Ramone based on the image, which incorporated smoke coming off of Johnny's strings as a nod to his shredding playing and the smoke from Uma Thurman's cigarette in the Pulp Fiction poster. I'm very happy with how the art poster turned out. I first got into the Ramones in 1984, and they quickly became one of my favorite groups of all time. I saw them live in 1988 and 1989, and the shows featured non-stop blistering action. The Ramones show I saw in the fall of 1988 at the Living Room in Providence R.I. was one of the most intense I've ever seen. The Living Room should have held 500, but in Providence, clubs paid off the cops, and there were probably 1,000 people in the venue. Jane's Addiction opened up and raised the energy level. When the Ramones came on, the crowd was ready to go nuts. I was near the stage, and the crowd surged forward, compressing everyone so tightly that I thought my ribs would be crushed. I could pick my feet off the ground simultaneously without using my hands. The Ramones played non-stop, with no breaks between songs for about two hours. The band was super tight. Johnny leaned into the crowd and didn't even take his leather jacket off for an hour, even though it was sweaty as hell in there. Joey's hair was in his eyes, but he stayed planted in front of the mic and sounded great. At certain points, I felt like I was going to suffocate or be crushed, but I refused to give up my spot right at the front. It may seem weird to say you are having the time of your life fighting for your life, but that's the only way I can describe that show. -Shepard Johnny Ramone Smokin' Strings. 18 x 24 inches. Screen print on thick cream Speckletone paper. Signed by Shepard Fairey. Numbered edition of 600. Comes with a Digital Certificate of Authenticity provided by Verisart. $70.
Summary
Johnny Ramone Smokin' Strings is a 2024 Shepard Fairey screen print, 18 x 24 inches, printed on thick cream Speckletone paper in a numbered edition of 600, signed by Fairey. The portrait of Ramones guitarist Johnny Ramone shows smoke coming off his guitar strings, a nod both to his aggressive playing and to the cigarette smoke in the Pulp Fiction poster. The image originated from a flyer Fairey designed for a Johnny Ramone tribute event he DJ'd, which also screened Pulp Fiction; at Linda Ramone's suggestion he developed it into a new illustration. The print comes with a Verisart Digital Certificate of Authenticity.
Why It Matters
Johnny Ramone Smokin' Strings is a personal music tribute that fuses two of Fairey's touchstones, the Ramones and the imagery of Pulp Fiction. Created at the invitation of Linda Ramone after Fairey designed a flyer for and DJ'd a Johnny Ramone tribute, the print carries authentic ties to the Ramone legacy rather than being a detached homage. The smoking-strings device cleverly merges a reference to Johnny's relentless playing with the cigarette smoke of the Pulp Fiction poster, layering punk and film iconography into a single image. Fairey's vivid recollection of seeing the Ramones live in 1988 grounds the work in his formative punk fandom and explains its energy. With an edition of 600, it is among the more available music portraits here, broadening its appeal to Ramones fans, punk collectors, and those who appreciate Fairey's musician-portrait tradition. For a music-focused collection, this print combines recognizable subject matter, a strong design hook, and a documented connection to the Ramone camp.
Collector Perspective
This print appeals to Ramones and punk fans, music-portrait collectors, and admirers of Fairey's homages to formative artists. The smoking-strings concept and Pulp Fiction nod give it a strong visual hook that resonates with film and music crossover audiences. At 18 x 24 inches in an edition of 600, it is an accessible, signed, authenticated work well suited to a music wall alongside Fairey's other musician portraits. The documented tie to Linda Ramone and the tribute event adds provenance that fans value. It fits naturally into a music-series collection and pairs with other punk and rock portraits in Fairey's catalog.
Historical Context
Johnny Ramone Smokin' Strings extends Fairey's long tradition of musician portraits and is rooted in his personal punk history, including seeing the Ramones live in the late 1980s. The print grew out of a flyer he designed for and DJ'd at a recent Johnny Ramone tribute that screened Pulp Fiction, developed further at Linda Ramone's suggestion. Released in June 2024 with Verisart authentication, it belongs to Fairey's Modern Activism-era release model while artistically continuing his music homage lineage. The work reflects his ongoing relationships within music culture and his habit of channeling personal fandom into collectible portraits.
FAQ
How did this print come about?
Fairey designed the flyer for and DJ'd a recent Johnny Ramone tribute that also screened Pulp Fiction. Linda Ramone liked the flyer and suggested he make a new Johnny Ramone illustration based on the image, which became this print.
What does the smoking-strings detail mean?
The smoke coming off Johnny's guitar strings is a nod both to his aggressive, shredding playing and to the cigarette smoke from Uma Thurman in the Pulp Fiction poster, one of Fairey's favorite films.
What is the edition size and medium?
It is a screen print on thick cream Speckletone paper, 18 x 24 inches, in a numbered edition of 600, signed by Shepard Fairey. It comes with a Digital Certificate of Authenticity provided by Verisart.
What is Fairey's connection to the Ramones?
Fairey says he first got into the Ramones in 1984, and they became one of his favorite groups. He recounts seeing them live in 1988 and 1989, describing the 1988 Providence show as one of the most intense he ever attended.
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.