E Pluribus Amtrakem

Obey the Giant Fairey

Wait, that doesn’t sound right. He isn’t exactly giant, like the 7’4″ 520lb Andre the Giant, but Shepard Fairey cuts a pretty impressive figure at the Institute for Contemporary Art (ICA) on the gorgeous Boston waterfront.  Open till the end of the summer, the show takes almost the entire 4th floor of the museum with signature graphics and politics by the most popular name in street art at the moment (at least on this side of the Atlantic).  After this show, you’ll know why.

This image used to be on the side of a wall in an abandoned lot in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. It wasn’t in a frame however.

If you are still reading this, you are like me and don’t get invited to the opening of a paper bag and you probably already have read all about this show elsewhere since it opened in February anyway but, hey, it’s a mind-trip to leave the street art in Brooklyn to see the same art ensconced in a museum 5 hours away.  And Boston is really pretty and clean, and the waterfront and geese and tall ships were picturesque, so it’s not like you are suffering or anything.

Had to take a picture of this thug in front of the sticker covered paper boxes in the lobby. Hope those hand signs don’t trigger an East Coast West Coast thug war or something.

After THIS show, if you don’t know what Shepard Fairey, the man and the artist are all about, you should continue the meds and stay away from operating heavy machinery because you get posters, prints, stencils, paintings, the actual cut-out stencils, stickers, videos, muddy sneakers, and a letter from a presidential candidate. You get to see all of his styles since ’89 throughout hundreds of pieces – the Russian propaganda style, the ornate Middle Eastern filigreed style, the layered collage style, the flat monochromatic music poster style.

And don’t forget the people; the rock icons like Joey Ramone, Debbie Harry, and David Bowie, and the depictions of Black Panthers, Chairman Mao, Stalin, Malcolm X and god knows who else. Oh that’s right, Obama.  The ever-debated part about this list of historical figures that Fairey has depicted in his art is that he doesn’t tell you how to think about them; they are seperated from context and judgement, and that p*sses a lot of people off.  Makes them nervous.  Since he’s a master of graphic design, I didn’t really care – the stuff looks cool and he keeps challenging himself as an artist and as a person.

When we got out of there I scoured the streets for some more home-grown street art, and found that it’s pretty squeaky clean in Boston, at least the area we were in. Of course there was the hullabaloo about Fairey himself putting up a bunch of pieces when he was there, but you might need a car and a map to the abandoned, run down, drug and sex-worker part of town to find it.  But here are a couple of pieces on the way back to the train.

TV Head! Nice boats in the background.

This N.R.A. girl has a ferverent prayer, but I can tell you right now what Yoko is going to say once she sees that gun.

So, this show is curated by Pedro Alonzo and Emily Brouille and totally recommended and if you have a camera be super sly about it because the ever attentive and cute gallery guards will smack you in the head if they catch you taking pictures.  If it’s on the street, that’s a whole other bowl of spaghetti.

There are great pictures and observations at Fecal Face from Manuel Bello about the show too, so you can see more of the art.

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