Monday, January 19th, 2009
Fairey Inducted into Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery
Image: National Portrait Gallery
A mixed media original rendition of Shepard Fairey’s Obama Hope image was inducted into the National Portrait Gallery, this past Saturday, January 17th. It is worth reminding readers that only a few months ago Fairey was arrested in Denver for postering around the Democratic National Convention. Now his name will appear in the permanent collection of the government-sponsored Smithsonian Institute.
Fairey appeared on the Thursday, Jan. 15 edition of Colbert Report to discuss the creation of the now iconic image. With most of us are already familiar with the story behind the image, our favorite quote goes out to Cobert: “So you’re a criminal…that’s the sort of people who support Barack Obama.”
Watch the full episode here.
The background of the National Portrait Gallery piece is worth mentioning. The stencil and collage portrait was a gift of Tony and Heather Podesta, whose contemporary art collection of nearly 900 works is regarded as one of the most significant in the United States. As noted by the Washington Post, Mr. and Mrs. Podesta have not only carved out an influential niche in the art world, but in the realm of politics as well. He is regarded as a powerful Washington lobbyist, and was retained by both Bill Clinton and John Kerry to spearhead presidential campaigns in Pennsylvania. His brother John served as President Clinton’s Chief of Staff and more recently as an Obama advisor.
Image: Warren Perry/National Portrait Gallery
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February 5th, 2009 at 2:01 pm
the art collectors » AP Claims Copyright Infringement Against Shepard Fairey said:
[…] his art. The particular image in question is Fairey’s infamous Obama portrait (recently inducted into the Smithsonian and on view in Fairey’s museum retrospective). In a statement issued […]