NEW LONDON, CONN.- The Lyman Allyn Art Museum announced the opening of SHEPARD FAIREY: FACING THE GIANT, Three Decades of Dissent, on view from Jun. 6 through Sept. 6. The exhibition surveys three decades of work by renowned American street artist Shepard Fairey, tracing the evolution of his visual language and social commentary from the late 1980s to the present.

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Among the most recognizable figures in contemporary street art, Fairey is widely regarded as a pioneer of the modern urban art scene. Drawn from works created between 1989 through 2019, the exhibition features a curated selection of 30 hand-painted multiples — prints on unique collaged backgrounds with additional stenciling and embellishments — as well as two additional Fairey prints from the Lyman Allyn’s own collection. The selections span Fairey’s early imagery inspired by punk rock and skate culture to later works addressing social justice, environmental sustainability, and political engagement.

The show’s title, FACING THE GIANT, references the iconic figure at the center of Fairey’s long-running Obey Giant campaign. In 1989, while a student at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), Fairey ran a sticker art campaign called “Andre the Giant Has a Posse.” The project evolved into his trademark Obey Giant series, artistic manifesto and a global phenomenon.

Fairey’s work is included in the collections at the Smithsonian Institution, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond, and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, as well as BEYOND STREETS Los Angeles, New York and London.

Best known to many for creating the iconic “Hope” poster during Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign, Fairey continues to use art as a platform for civic engagement, activism, and cultural dialogue. SHEPARD FAIREY: FACING THE GIANT, Three Decades of Dissent offers visitors an opportunity to explore the breadth of his artistic practice and the enduring relevance of his message.


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