A few days ago, Shepard Fairey released a new poster for the Occupy Wall Street movement. It is a play on his 2008 Obama "Hope" poster, although this poster incorporates the masked image of Guy Fawkes. By modifying the Obama poster, this new version is a direct call to the president to support the movement. The image of Guy Fawkes has been incorporated into the movement already, with protestors donning the mask.
Courtesy of Obey Giant
The image was released on Obey Giant's website on November 18th. Below is Fairey's comment on the poster:
"This image represents my support for the Occupy movement, a grassroots movement spawned to stand up against corruption, imbalance of power, and failure of our democracy to represent and help average Americans. On the other hand, as flawed as the system is, I see Obama as a potential ally of the Occupy movement if the energy of the movement is perceived as constructive, not destructive. I still see Obama as the closest thing to “a man on the inside” that we have presently. Obviously, just voting is not enough. We need to use all of our tools to help us achieve our goals and ideals. However, I think idealism and realism need to exist hand in hand. Change is not about one election, one rally, one leader, it is about a constant dedication to progress and a constant push in the right direction. Let’s be the people doing the right thing as outsiders and simultaneously push the insiders to do the right thing for the people. I’m still trying to work out copyright issues I may face with this image, but feel free to share it and stay tuned…"
Interesting to note is the last sentence, in which Fairey makes reference to his legal issues with the original poster. The Associated Press alleged that Fairey used one of their photographs to create the poster image of Obama. The issue boiled down to copyright infringement versus fair-use.
Is the image merely a source of inspiration, or is it a direct violation of artistic ownership? This was the issue with the 2008 poster, and based on Fairey's statement above, it seems that he is anticipating similar backlash from this new poster as well.
Additionally, this poster is a direct message to President Obama. The poster reads, "Mister President, We HOPE You're On Our Side." This message, paired with the image, makes the poster particularly powerful. It also begs for a response from Obama.
Will this poster garner a response? And, because of the legal battles Fairey has faced before, is this image more prone to interrogation?
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