Gauntlet Gallery
What is Shepard Fairey’s piece called “Harmonious Elements”?
Artist Statement
This "Harmonious Elements" print is based on the mural I just finished in New Orleans at the edge of the French Quarter in advance of my "Warning Signs" show at Mortal Machine Gallery. The print and mural celebrate art and music as therapeutic creative endeavors that bring some harmony to the challenging chaos of the world. I incorporated some local NOLA jazz musicians like Charlie Gabriel and Walter Harris who frequently perform at Preservation Hall as a nod to the profound contributions New Orleans has made to the American musical landscape. The image also features a woman, who could represent any of us, looking hopefully into the future despite the challenges literally and metaphorically tearing at her. To her left is a lotus, a symbol of resilience and beauty which grows from the mud. There are a limited number of prints of this mural image available at Mortal Machine Gallery which will benefit victims of the New Year's terror attack in New Orleans. A portion of proceeds from the "Harmonious Elements" print sold on ObeyGiant.com will also benefit the Greater New Orleans Foundation. -Shepard PRINT DETAILS: Harmonious Elements. 24 x 18 inches. Screen print on 80# cream Speckletone paper. Signed by Shepard Fairey. Numbered edition of 500. Comes with a Digital Certificate of Authenticity provided by Verisart. $75.
Summary
Harmonious Elements is a 2025 screen print, 24 x 18 inches, on 80# cream Speckletone paper, signed and numbered in a first edition of 500 published by Obey Giant. The image derives from a mural Fairey completed in New Orleans at the edge of the French Quarter ahead of his Warning Signs show at Mortal Machine Gallery. It celebrates art and music as therapeutic, incorporating local NOLA jazz musicians who perform at Preservation Hall, a central woman figure looking hopefully forward despite forces tearing at her, and a lotus symbolizing resilience. A portion of ObeyGiant.com proceeds benefits the Greater New Orleans Foundation. Priced at $75.
Why It Matters
Harmonious Elements ties Fairey's studio practice directly to public muralism and to a specific place and moment, New Orleans and its jazz heritage, giving the print documentary as well as decorative weight. By naming real Preservation Hall musicians such as Charlie Gabriel and Walter Harris, Fairey roots the work in a living musical tradition rather than generic iconography, and frames art and music as therapeutic responses to chaos. The central woman, described as someone who could represent any of us looking hopefully into the future, makes the piece broadly relatable while the lotus, growing from mud, adds his recurring symbol of resilience and beauty. The work also carries a charitable dimension: prints at Mortal Machine Gallery benefited victims of the New Year's terror attack in New Orleans, and a portion of ObeyGiant.com proceeds supports the Greater New Orleans Foundation, linking the edition to real-world community recovery. For collectors, this combination of mural origin, place-specific subject, music tribute, and philanthropic context makes it richer than a standalone decorative print, and a meaningful record of Fairey's 2025 New Orleans body of work.
Collector Perspective
This suits collectors drawn to Fairey's music tributes, his floral and resilience symbolism, and works with a documented mural and charitable backstory. The New Orleans jazz subject and the lotus motif give it warm, hopeful display appeal that works in living spaces as well as music-themed rooms. At $75 in an edition of 500, it is an attainable signed screen print that also carries narrative depth tied to a specific city and cause. It fits a music-and-culture grouping or a Fairey collection organized around his mural-derived prints, and pairs with other resilience and lotus-themed works. The signature, numbering, and Verisart certificate document it as an official Obey Giant release.
Historical Context
Harmonious Elements marks Fairey's 2025 New Orleans engagement, produced as a print of a French Quarter mural made in advance of his Warning Signs exhibition at Mortal Machine Gallery. It extends his long-running interest in music as a cultural and personal force, here channeled through NOLA's jazz legacy and Preservation Hall performers. The lotus and the resilient central figure recur from his broader symbolic vocabulary, while the charitable tie-ins to local recovery reflect his consistent pattern of linking editions to social causes. As a mural-to-print translation, it situates within a phase of his career in which large public works and accessible studio editions reinforce one another, broadening the reach of imagery first created for a specific civic site.
FAQ
What is Harmonious Elements based on?
It is based on a mural Fairey completed in New Orleans at the edge of the French Quarter, made ahead of his Warning Signs show at Mortal Machine Gallery. The image celebrates art and music as therapeutic and incorporates local NOLA jazz musicians who perform at Preservation Hall.
Does this print support a charitable cause?
Yes. A portion of proceeds from the print sold on ObeyGiant.com benefits the Greater New Orleans Foundation. Separately, a limited number of prints at Mortal Machine Gallery benefited victims of the New Year's terror attack in New Orleans.
What are the edition details?
Harmonious Elements is a screen print measuring 24 x 18 inches on 80# cream Speckletone paper, signed by Shepard Fairey and numbered in an edition of 500. It was published by Obey Giant in 2025 and includes a digital Certificate of Authenticity from Verisart.
What do the figures and lotus represent?
The central woman could represent any of us, looking hopefully into the future despite challenges tearing at her. The lotus to her left is a symbol of resilience and beauty that grows from the mud, reinforcing the print's theme of finding harmony amid chaos.
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.