Op-Art Icon (Aqua)

Dimensions: 18 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 250 (#52/250)

Year: 2024

Condition: Excellent

ABOUT THE ART

"In the early ’90s, I fell in love with ’60s psychedelic posters from artists like San Francisco’s Victor Moscoso, Stanley Mouse, Alton Kelley, and Rick Griffin, as well as LA’s John Van Hamersveld. I was especially drawn to the op-art patterns and color theory used in psychedelic art. I had been making black and white Andre stickers for a couple of years, and I decided it was time to branch out with some playful backgrounds and color theory, so I began experimenting with op-art patterns and intense vibrating colors. Part of the fun was the journey of improving at color theory, and the other part was seeing the polarizing reactions to the psychedelic Andre stickers. Some people thought they were annoying, even nauseating, while others found them exhilarating. Considering my prior punk-rock-minimalism, some people saw the color and style as a betrayal! Coincidentally, in 1992, as I was releasing these psychedelic Andre stickers into the world, the techno rave scene was gaining steam. The rave scene used a mix of early digital and psychedelic aesthetics, which led to an enthusiastic audience for the stickers and t-shirts of my op-art variations. I was torn because I was not really a fan of techno music, but I was broke, and selling t-shirts to ravers was helping to keep me alive. I’m also fascinated by how underground scenes develop. However, as rave became extremely trendy, I decided that despite the fact that it would be bad for my cash flow, I needed to separate my art from the rave scene. Thirty years have passed, and I’ve gotten over my distaste for an association with rave to the point that I felt like exploring psychedelic patterns and colors again. These Op-Art Icon prints are nostalgic in some ways and of-the-moment in others. They relate to my early ’90s explorations but push a lot further with the way the colors weave through the Icon Face image and have the effect of subtle translucency through the spray paint texture. I always have fun finding new ways to use some of my staple images, like the Icon Face, because repetition with evolution is an important principle for the Obey Giant campaign."

-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.