'Andy Lives: Andy Kaufman' by Shepard Fairey, 1999
Rare original tribute poster to the comedy legend; released to coincide with the Jim Carrey film "Man on the Moon".
36 x 24 Inches (poster)
44.3 x 32.2 x 1 Inches (framed)
Rare early offset lithograph on satin poster paper.
Open Edition (released unsigned and un-numbered).
Hand-signed and dated by the artist in black Sharpie.
*Note: custom framed in acid-free suede matting, UV-plexiglass and black hardwood molding.
*Note: poster shows kinks/wrinkles from previous mis-handling and sun-fading across the top from previous improper framing. Price discounted accordingly.
ABOUT THE ART
In September, a small army of fans set out in the darkened streets of 14 American cities to paste up Day-Glo-colored posters of Andy Kaufman, the offbeat comic whose life story had been made into a big Hollywood movie that opened last week, "Man on the Moon."
The pop-art drawings--an image of Kaufman and another of his alter ego, lounge lizard Tony Clifton--were nothing like the posters issued later by the movie's distributor, Universal. They bore a tiny Internet address in the bottom right-hand corner--www.Andylives.org--which rages with a debate about Kaufman's death from cancer in 1984 and the film, starring Jim Carrey.
"This is not the Blair Witch project, [expletive]," warns an aggressive welcome to the Web site, referring to the cult hit of the previous summer that was fueled by huge Internet interest. "This is a Web site that addresses the life and legacy of a real man. It is not written to paint any single picture of Andy Kaufman, particularly ones that are repeated endlessly after people read the books or see the movie and consider them 'true.' . . . We are fans of Andy Kaufman. You are welcome to contribute." The message is signed AKA--Andy Kaufman's Army.
Determined to use every possible avenue to get people talking about their movie, Universal marketing executives decided to do something completely different: They gave about $100,000 to the tiny group of die-hard Andy Kaufman fans to run their own rogue marketing campaign about the film.
The fans hire computer wizards to create the Web site, and a well-known street artist, Shepard Fairey, to do the psychedelic-style drawings of Kaufman and "Clifton." The posters and stickers are wild-posted in bohemian neighborhoods all over the country, and replaced when they are covered by other posters. The Web site immediately draws the silent interest of thousands of Kaufman and Fairey fans...