Here’s a trick or treat for you.
It seems that Shepard Fairey, the creator of the Barack Obama “Hope” poster, says he was mistaken about which Associated Press photograph he used to create the image in a statement submitted in his “fair use” court case.
Fairey submitted this new statement to the court: “In an attempt to conceal my mistake, I submitted false images and deleted other images,” he said. “I sincerely apologize for my lapse in judgment, and I take full responsibility for my actions, which were mine alone.”
Fairey is being seen in a different light as to how much work he really did to transform the AP photo into his Obama poster.
I just hope we don’t see Fairey glorified in an exhibit anytime soon at the Gibbes Museum of Art or the Halsey Institute at the College of Charleston in Charleston, SC. Wishful thinking on some people’s part, but Fairey’s artwork is headed to much larger venues – as the art world’s current bad boy. But, before that ever happens, if it ever does, I’d like to see the artist clean up Charleston’s graffiti mess – which he is directly and indirectly responsible for.
Fairey placed graphic stickers all over the Charleston area and then he and his followers proceeded to place them everywhere making him a cult figure as a creative artist making a name for himself. He was finally arrested for doing the same thing in Boston, MA, earlier this year.
But the genie is out of the bottle. Young artists unfortunately now see Fairey as a role model – a road map to quick fame and success. Fairey’s past and present is catching up with him and in the future he might not be remembered – the way he had hoped. I’ll always think of him as a vandal first – artist second.
It is said that, “Bad men do what good men dream.” Maybe so, but the good men keep it in their dreams and the bad men take it to the streets. I’m not saying Fairey is a bad man, but in these, “I’m sorry I got caught doing what I knew was wrong” times – I don’t see him as someone Charleston should feel proud of – at least not at this time.
Hey, I’m sure that’s the same thought that Fairey’s fans think about me, as well as many others, but such is life – I’m not waiting for any accolades – those bridges were burned the day I decided to express my opinions in public.
So, do – bad men say what good men think? – maybe so.