Karrie O writes-Thanks for your great site. It's helped me navigate these rough buying waters for fans of Fairey's Obama Hope poster. I was a volunteer for the campaign and have been trying to purchase a poster for myself (unfortunately I missed Monday's special release completely). As I search through all the stuff on ebay, I'm left more confused than ever and am trying hard not to get ripped off. Can you help me with any of these questions? 1. Which version of the Hope prints carry this at the bottom: Illustrated & designed by Shepard Fairey © 2008 Obey Giant. ObeyGiant.com 2.Do all the posters given out or sold by Obama campaign/offices have a matte finish? 3. I've seen the Obama campaign info and the Union symbol on the bottom of Fairey's Change posters, but not the Hope version. Is that correct? 4. Were any of the Hope posters printed on canvas? Thanks for any info you might have.Karrie-
1. I just checked both my signed and numbered print as well as my signed paster, and neither one had that info, both came directly from Shepard Fairey and Obey Giant.
2. Interesting question, the Hope pasters given out by the campaign offices should be matte, however the Vote for Change prints given out seem to have all been on glossy paper. I'd be cautious about purchasing any Hope prints on glossy paper - they were probably printed at Kinkos.
3. You are correct about the symbols on the bottom of the Change posters, the same symbols are also on the Vote print (with different photography credits)
4. As far as I know, no Hope prints were printed on canvas. You'll see Change prints on textured canvas on eBay, however as they're all being sold by the same dude, and as he seems to have an unlimited supply, i'd be wary.
Hope that helps!
KH
Andre O. H. writes-Dear KH, Thank you very much for a wonderful site which keeps us all of informed of the amazing art out there. I've been following Shepard Fairey's work and currently was only able to get Vote...I was in Iraq when he released both Progress, Hope and Change. I still can't justify paying Ebay prices though I would like to get at least one of those to complete my collection. My question to you is, since Mr. Fairey detests all the Ebay Flippers and such, why would he not continue to release prints of those titles? I know artists value their work tremendously but rather than have all these 'fake' prints out their with his work, why not continue to produce these prints? As long as it covers costs and he is able to make a profit/ donation, why limit his releases?
At first I was thinking this may be purely Supply & Demand etc. but he has to admit that his image is THE icon of the Obama movement and many want to own a piece of this. What are your thoughts on his reluctance (as yet) to make further releases?
AndréAndre- great question. To date Shepard has released 600 Hope prints, 350 Progress prints, 400 small Progress prints, 400 Vote prints, 350 Rock the Vote prints, 5,000 Change prints, 5,000 Vote prints, 5,000 small Vote prints, 5,000 Yes We Did prints, and hundreds of signed though not numbered Hope and Rock the Vote (DNC version) prints. Of course, that's in addition to the hundreds of thousands (literally) Hope pasters and stickers that were distributed through Campaign offices to supporters.
That's certainly a lot of prints, and to be honest with you, I wouldn't be surprised to see one more hitting before the inaguration (and possibly after)...
Considering all his limited edition prints were sold at affordabel and reasonable prices (especially considering their worth), with over 300,000 pasters being given out for free, I think he's doing a pretty good job of making his art both accessible to the general public, while still ensuring its collectability. As for eBay flippers, yeah it sucks. However, that's just the world we live in... Shep's taken a lot of measures to cut them out (banning them from Obey Giant, limiting prints to one per customer, selling some only in person etc etc), but unfortunately there's only so much you can really do...
Of course, this is all just my opinion, if you agree or disagree, feel free to leave a comment-
KH
Hasan H writes-Hey,So I just bought the set of stickerobot.com lim. ed. sticker pack, each sticker individually and saved a ton of money.I was wondering if you guys have found any websites selling the three mini stickers (flores, mac, and hope) or any sites that sell the billi the kid or the Mag sticker. I have searched ebay and cannot find them. Thanks. Also, how much were the sticker packs going for on stickerobot.com? And, do you guys know where Zoltron's office is? Last, where do you have the best chance of meeting any of the artist series (sticker) artists? I got almost two of everything and am looking for shepard fairey to sign the progress. Thanks a ton.
Hasan, as far as I know, there aren't any sites selling the mini stickers, you'll have to search the 'bay for those. If you haven't yet, visit
www.artbymags.com she's got some stuff for sale in her Etsy store. The sticker packs were around $35 via Sticker Robot (though they sold out with a quickness). Zoltron's office is actually in Antartica, located in the Fortress of Solitude. Any one with questions regarding stickers or the upcoming Robot Invasion, you can reach him there. As for meeting the artists, check out their websites on a regular basis, find out where they'll be and go from there. Shepard is very cool about signing stuff for fans, if you live (or have friends) in the LA area, he's always djing and putting on charity events out there and I'm sure he'd be down to sign a sticker for you. Another good chance of meeting him would be to make it to DC for the inaguration, I'm sure he'll be at the massive art show that'll be happening there, but more on that later.....
