'Op-Art Icon' by Shepard Fairey, 2024
Oversized release based on the artist's popular 'Op-Art Icon' series from earlier in the year.
36 x 24 Inches
91.4 x 61 Centimeters
Offset lithograph print on cream, Speckletone fine art paper.
Open edition.Op-Art Icon
Hand-signed and dated by the artist in pencil bottom right.
ABOUT THE ART
"Today, I'm releasing this NEW 'Op-Art Icon' offset print, which is nostalgic in some ways and of the moment in others. Here's the story -
In the early '90s, I fell in love with '60s psychedelic posters from artists like San Francisco's Victor Moscoso, Stanley Mouse, Alton Kelley, Rick Griffin, and LA's John Van Hamersveld. I was especially drawn to the op-art patterns and color theory used in psychedelic art. I had been making black and white Andre stickers for a couple of years. I decided it was time to branch out with some playful backgrounds and color theory, so I began experimenting with op-art patterns and intense vibrating colors.
Part of the fun was the journey of improving at color theory, and the other part was seeing the polarizing reactions to the psychedelic Andre stickers. This image relates to my early '90s explorations but pushes a lot further with the way the colors weave through the Icon Face image and have the effect of subtle translucency through the spray paint texture.
I always have fun finding new ways to use some of my staple images, like the Icon Face, because repetition with evolution is an important principle for the Obey Giant campaign."
- Shepard