Coming this Saturday, March 24th, the Copro Gallery will open Juxtapoz Turns 18, a group show celebrating the 18th anniversary of the iconic art magazine. The show will feature work from many of the artists that have been featured in the magazine over the years such as Todd Schorr, Camille Rose Garcia, Robert Williams, Shag, Scott Musgrove, Candice Tripp, Mark Ryden, Shepard Fairey, Dave Cooper, Tara McPherson, and many more. It’s rare that I look through a new issue of Juxtapoz, and even more so that I visit the website, however I am aware of the place the magazine has in the timeline of this scene and look forward to seeing what these artists come up with. The reception starts at 8 PM and the show will run until April 14th. Keep your eye on the galleries webpage for a full preview.
“Occupy Hope” by Shepard Fairey
I have been trying to take a break from reading the news as much as I usually do; It hasn’t been the most uplifting lately anyway. It’s always good to take a break and remember to enjoy all of the little amazing things that happen when you really pay attention. However, It’s been hard to ignore some of the events surrounding the Occupy Wall Street movement, with cops macing protesters, more people joining support, and artists jumping in and sharing their creativity for the 99%. Artists working in a variety of mediums have been creating posters that reiterate the groups message. Of course I have seen many sites that are offering shirts and posters, with no mention that your money will go to anything other than the pockets of those that sell the items but that always happens. One site worth checking out, Occupyprint.org has a good amount of OWS posters, each one is downloadable in pdf format for free, so you can help spread the images around.
Most recently Shepard Fairey has released a new image, in the same style as the Obama “Hope” Poster, which shows a redesigned figure wearing a hoodie, and a Guy Fawkes mask (representative of Anonymous and OWS). Below you can see the first version of the poster, and the updated version after Fairey received a response from an Occupy organizer.
The first poster was criticized as it came off “pro-Obama” with the use of the badge seen in the first poster, now with the 99% shown in the center, and most visible the callout at the bottom stating “Mr. President We HOPE You’re on Our Side”. In the response the Orgaziner clearly states OWS does want to associate with any major figure, especially Obama who has “raised more money from Wall Street than any other candidate in history”. The organizer goes to breakdown each one of the choices Fairey made in the creation of this new poster. In the end the poster was later changed with the full response that prompted it. Now the image states “We Are the HOPE”. Of course the colors will always associate the image with the original design, but I am curious to know how you feel about it. Does the design “reclaim” the original “Hope” poster and give it new power? What do you feel about the initial Occupy design, and the changes that were made?
Read the full response by OWS to Shepard Fairey here @ OBEY


New Sponsor: 5 Pieces Gallery
I would like to introduce the latest sponsor for the Creep Machine, 5 Pieces Gallery located in Berne, Switzerland. The gallery opened in December 2010, and focuses on young contemporary art in the mediums of painting, drawing, prints, and photography. The galleries goal is to be the worlds number one gallery when it comes to contemporary art. If you head on over to the site you will see work available by Brett Amory, Winston Chmielinski (featured), Anthony Lister, Michael Mararian, Aaron Nagel, Banksy, Shepard Fairey, and many more.
Check it out: 5piecesgallery.com

“They Live” poster by Shepard Fairey
Just a day ago I posted news on a “They Live” poster by Shepard Fairey from Alamo Drafthouse . The poster was released on Mondotees and in record time, as always with the prints they release, it sold out in minutes. “They Live” is one of my favorite movies, along with another Carpenter classic “The Thing”. There has already been quite a lot of art created that was inspired by “They Live”, much of it is OK not amazing. With the secrecy and hype for this print I was really expecting something outstanding, the stencil photo even got you prepared for it. Once the final image was released however, I wasn’t blown away and I noticed many fans weren’t either. I tried to figure out why there is something off about this print and I think I figured it out. It has the same color palette and textures that make so many of Fairey’s prints look as good as they do, and since he has used the Obey imagery from this movie quite a lot it should be a perfect fit. I think the problem is that while this is supposed to be a “They Live” poster, something to commemorate the movie itself, it looks more like a Shepard Fairey print with the “They Live” title and credits added as an afterthought. What do you think?
Sneak peak of Shepard Fairey’s “They Live” poster for Alamo Drafthouse
If your familiar with the Alamo Drafthouse, associated with Mondotees, then you know they release a constant string of killer print based on movies they show at the theater. Up next they are going to be playing John Carpenter’s cult classic, and one of my favorite movies, “They Live”. The poster for this show is going to be made by Shepard Fairey, who as you know has always been inspired by this movie. Here is a statement from 2003 on his inspiration:
“The This is Your God show in 2003 at the Six Space gallery in downtown L.A. was an opportunity to showcase the sociopolitical message of the OBey campaign by paying homage to John Carpenter’s They Live, which was a major source of inspiration and the basis for my use of the word “obey.” The movie has a very strong message about the power of commercialism and the way that people are manipulated by advertising. One of my main concepts with the show (and the campaign as a whole) was that obedience is the most valuable currency. People rarely consider how much power they sacrifice by blindly following a self-serving corporation’s marketing agenda, and how their spending habits reflect the direction in which they choose to transfer power. In They Live, the protagonist discovers hidden messages lurking behind billboards and anything commercial, and the money says “THIS IS YOUR GOD” on plain white paper. I designed a graphic that looked somewhat like real money but with that slogan, which we used for the invitations and a billboard I rented on the corner of Sunset and Hollywood to promote the show.”
The print will be released tomorrow at a random time on the Mondotees website. Be prepared for a fight to get this print, not only because it is a Alamo Drafthouse print, but its a Fairey print based on a killer movie. Take a look at the preview image and video below.
Large format art prints by Shepard Fairey
Shepard Fairey will be dropping some new prints this Thursday, April 28th at a random time. These new prints however are huge, each one coming in at 42″ x 42″ on 10% cotton paper with deckled edges, signed and numbered in editions of 40 for $500 each.
Get em here: Obey.com



Glen E Friedman @ Shepard Fairey @ 941 Geary Gallery
During the past weekend I was able to stop by the 941 Geary Gallery and check out the latest exhibition, photography by Glen E Friedman and collaborative works by Shepard Fairey. I recently started covering shows for Sketch Theatre’s blog so you can head over there, check out the photos and the writeup.
“America’s Favorite” prints by Shepard Fairey
After his long run of figurative works, Shepard Fairey will be releasing a new print this coming Thursday, July 8th. “America’s Favorite” is in response to America’s dependance on oil, and a tribute of sorts to artist Ed Ruscha and his “Standard Station” series of works. Although this print was made before the BP oil disaster, the print is a perfect visual reminder that the days of oil should be on the way out. There are two variants of the print, red and silver, each 18″ x 24″ print is limited to an edition of 400 and goes for $50 each.
Get em here: Obey Online Store


“Mr Spray” vinyl collectible by Shepard Fairey
Strangeco is now taking pre-orders for Shepard Fairey’s “Mr Spray” vinyl figure, a character created in 2004 and was based on a 1950′s advertising design. Mr. Spray is a rotocast vinyl figure, is 11″ tall and has 4 points of articulation. It comes in an illustrated box, and comes with a mini Obey stencil. There is 4 color versions of Mr. Spray, Black (shown) limited to 350 pieces, Red limited to 350, Gold limited to 200, and Silver limited to 100. Black and red are available for pre-order on Strangco’s site, Gold will be available at the San Diego Comic Con, and Silver’s release information will be coming soon.

Lunch Bunch Auction Now Live
Ana Bagayan and her amazing Lunch Bunch Project are now having another auction. Artists and galleries have once again donated prints and originals to make sure that this projects can go another round. There are some prints from Benjamin Lacombe, Heidi Alamanda, Emma Mount, Shepard Fairey, Brandi Milne, Joshua Petker, an unreleased print by Scott Musgrove, and some original works by Joe Scarano, Amy Sol, Peter Chan, Lavonia Martin, Tiffany Liu and more.
Its a great cause, and you can score some great art in the process. Check it out.
Lunch Bunch Art Auction



“Keith Haring” print by Shepard Fairey
Dropping this Thursday, May 20th is a new print by Shepard Fairey based on artist Keith Haring. This is an 18″ x 24″ screenprint on canvas, and will be limited to an edition of 450 for $70 each. Like the Blondie (previously featured), I think this is a great print dedicated to an influential artist, and “a portion of the sales go to the Keith Haring Foundation and Photographer Patrick McMullan.”
Get it here: Obeygiant.com





























