Shepard Fairey

Until this week, during some email correspondence with the elusive street artist Pixnit, I hadn't been aware of the upcoming and highly-anticipated Shepard Fairey exhibit debuting the first week of February at the ICA. After reading about his sometimes controversial street art, I began gathering a diverse collection of viewpoints on his work. From the Graffiti NABBers Anne Swanson and Kathleen Alexander, who are very vocal about their opposition to tagging and illegal street art, the ICA's support of Shepard Fairey "elevates this type of thing to a level it should not be elevated to and just encourages taggers and vandals."


Others felt that Fairey's work is an interesting topic of discussion for the art world. I spoke with Ricardo Barretto of the UrbanArts Insitute at MassArt and we touched on topics of guerilla art and its place in contemporary artistic study. Though he does not necessarily support illegal artwork, Barretto recognizes the interesting discussion it can spur. I stopped in at an art gallery on Newbury street and spoke with Joshua Buckno about the ICA event. He felt that in a way, placing Fairey's work in a gallery destroyed the "guerilla" aspect of it and cheapened the pieces in some sense.

Discussions with graffiti artists themselves added another dimension to the debate. Caleb Neelon, who has tagged in the past but developed his work into a successful career and now does commisioned pieces, stressed that street artists have to gain the respect of the graffiti subculture, which isn't always easy. As I passed by examples of Fairey's work in Central Square (pictured) some angry scrawls seemed to reflect this disrespect for someone who many may view as a sold-out artist. "SHEPARD FAIREY IS A POSER," read one such note. Some in the graffiti community may not dismiss Fairey for the evolution of his work and its shift to legal space. "You can't blame someone for making a buck," said one.

-Jessica Bal