Charlie Rose Discusses Art With Shepard Fairey
February 6, 2009 – 3:43 am PT by MikeTags: Charlie Rose, Happy Hardcore, Obey, Shepard Fairey —
What is art? Art is in the eye of the beholder. That statement must be true because my next-door neighbor plays HAPPY HARDCORE music all night and calls it his “art”, but I call it “making my ears bleed”. Really, my ears bleed after listening to that crap. Andy Warhol was once posed the same question and his response was, “Art is a man’s name”. That’s ironic because my next-door Happy Hardcore neighbor’s name is Art. Art Greenwald is his full name.
I’m sure art can be interpreted in thousands of ways and it’s very apparent here on the streets of any METROPOLITAN city. You’ve got graffiti everywhere and ever since the dawn of silk screen templates, art has taken over the freeway underpasses, bridges, tunnels, and sometimes ANIMALS. And in the case of Art Greenwald, he’s also playing his art in some of the hottest house clubs in town.
Shepard Fairey is a contemporary artist, graphic designer and illustrator who emerged from the skateboarding scene[1] and became known initially for his “André the Giant Has a Posse” sticker campaign. His work became more widely known in the 2008 United States Presidential Election, specifically his Barack Obama “HOPE” poster. The Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston calls him one of today’s best known and most influential street artists. He usually omits his first name. His work is included in the collections at The Smithsonian, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
Check out Shepard’s interview on one of my favorite programs, CHARLIE ROSE on PBS.
