A Cracked Icon

Dimensions: 36 x 24 Inches

Medium: Screenprint on cream Speckletone Paper

Provenance: Signed, numbered, and dated by artist. Comes with Verisart digital blockchain certificate of authenticity transferred to collector's email address.

Edition: Limited Edition of 550 (#60/550)

Year: 2024

Condition: Excellent

ABOUT THE ART

"This screen print, “A Cracked Icon,” is a reference to one of my favorite musicians, David Bowie, and his song “Cracked Actor.” I’m fascinated by how we process fragmentation and mutation, often trying to conceive a resolved whole from disparate parts. I was first intrigued by the unlikely juxtapositions of images yielded by ripped posters on the street revealing parts of unrelated images interacting with each other along organic ripped edges. Sometimes, the serendipitous placement of a rip can make two images feel like they are meant to be in conversation. I think that our brains are looking for harmony even within obvious transgression. We are all full of contradictory impulses, and our egos often drive which things we are justifying moment to moment. Bowie was constantly exploring the ideas of ego, fame, identity, and evolution, so I think this image serves as both a pleasing visual and a provocation to consider the tension between harmony and conflict, competition and collaboration. Bowie embraced collaboration adventurously to great success, so hopefully, he’d dig this image and tribute!"

-Shepard

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Frank Shepard Fairey (born February 15, 1970) is an American contemporary graphic designer, and illustrator who emerged from the skateboarding scene. He first became known for his "Andre the Giant Has a Posse" (…OBEY…) sticker campaign, in which he appropriated images from the comedic supermarket tabloid Weekly World News. His work became more widely known in the 2008 U.S. presidential election, specifically his Barack Obama "Hope" poster.

The Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston calls him one of today's best known and most influential street artists. His work is included in the collections at The Smithsonian, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.