Moving on up

For those who are graff heads the name Shepard Fairey, should ring a bell whether stenciling is your craft or you like bombing, the name comes to mind. Now for those who may not be familiar with this name, he can be easily recognized as the artist who created the infamous “Hope” poster for our new president Barack Obama. (Now does it ring a bell?) Before Shepard Fairey was creating posters for presidential candidates he was a graffiti artist who is known for using wheat paste as his medium and leaving his art around the world. His previous work includes a large obey insignia, obey stickers, his clothing brand named “Obey” and also “Andre the giant has a posse.” After years of hard work he has landed the first portrait of our 44th president which is now in the Smithsonian Museum in Washington D.C . This shatters stereotypes of “underground” and “street artists” who are greatly looked down upon within the art community. To have something from the street being recognized on a national scale is beyond epic proportions and is now being bestowed upon hallow halls of American history for generations to come. This truly shows that graffiti or any underground art in that fact should not be taken lightly and has only set the bar for future artists to soar to a new “Hope”.