Los Angeles-based graphic designer and street artist Shepard Fairey talks about his poster of Presidential candidate Barack Obama with NPG curator Wendy Wick Reaves. The “Hope” poster (a large-scale mixed-media stenciled collage) was on view in the "New Arrivals" exhibition. Fairey's Barack Obama "Hope" poster became the iconic campaign image for the first African American president of the United States. Early in 2008, Fairey produced his first Obama portrait, with a stenciled face, visionary upward glance, and the caption "Progress." The interview was recorded at the National Portrait Gallery, July 7, 2009.
Image info: Barack Obama / Shepard Fairey, 2008 / Hand-finished collage, stencil and acrylic on paper / Gift of the Heather and Tony Podesta Collection in honor of Mary K. Podesta / National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution / Copyright Shepard Fairey/ObeyGiant.com.
[“Obama “HOPE” Portrait” by Shepard Fairey. NPG.2008.52]