Art is not always meant to be decorative or soothing, in fact, it can create uncomfortable conversations and stimulate uncomfortable emotions. Shepard Fairey More Quotes by Shepard Fairey More Quotes From Shepard Fairey Just because you've reached a certain level of success, that doesn't mean you've become corrupted by the system. Shepard Fairey certain levels mean The great thing about the Internet is, it has made it easier for people who are clever and resourceful to promote themselves. Shepard Fairey internet clever people I think "punk" should really be defined as paving your own way creatively and by defying any sort of orthodoxy or commercial pressure. Shepard Fairey orthodoxy way thinking I love the classic trucker jacket as an icon of rock 'n' roll and rebellion. Shepard Fairey rock-n-roll icons rocks I've met Obama a few times, and I think Obama's a quality human being, but I think that he finds himself in a position where your actions are largely dictated by things out of your control. I'm not giving him a pass for not being more courageous, but I do think the entire system needs an overhaul and taking money out of politics would be a really good first step. Shepard Fairey quality giving thinking The world has lost a great musician who will always be an inspiration to me and those at OBEY GIANT. Shepard Fairey musician giants inspiration MY INSPIRATION FOR THIS LIMITED EDITION DESIGN WAS BASED ON THE LEGACY OF HENNESSY AS A BRAND. TO ME, HENNESSY HAS ALWAYS BEEN ABOUT QUALITY, AUTHENTICITY, TRADITION, AND ELEGANCE. Shepard Fairey design quality inspiration If you're creating something that has some sort of cultural currency - if the idea is getting out there - then that will probably yield money in some form, whether it's through selling art or selling books or being asked to give a lecture. Shepard Fairey yield book art When it comes to the street-art world, there are a lot of people who realize if they go out and put up a few pieces of street art and photograph them really well, even if their locations weren't actually that high-profile or dangerous, with the level of exposure they get from the Internet, with a large audience, they can maintain that rebel cache by having it be theoretically documented street art. Shepard Fairey cache people art The Internet wasn't even an option for me, so one of the reasons I was so motivated to do street art was because there was no other outlet. Maybe if the Internet had been around then, I would have tried to do stuff that went viral and was clever and got me a lot of hits. Shepard Fairey clever stuff art I don't agree with most forms of censorship, and I especially don't agree with the idea that one needs to be from the same cultural, ethnic, or religious background as the subjects they portray in order to be qualified to portray those subjects. I believe that compassion and empathy should cross all of those category barriers, and the conversations art creates can be inflammatory initially, but I think are most often constructive and healing in the long run. Shepard Fairey religious running art I think the Internet has definitely made it easier for people to have stuff seen, but it's also encouraged a level of ADD, where you see so much that if it doesn't make an impact on you immediately, you don't look at it. Shepard Fairey impact people thinking Free speech is important whether you like what's being said or not. The reason why it's so important is that the entire spectrum of ideas needs to be heard so that the best ones are embraced and rise to the top. If you're a liberal and don't like conservative speech and you try to stifle that conservative speech, you need to be prepared for your own progressive speech to be stifled when the power shifts out of your favor. Shepard Fairey conservative important trying The social and political issues the world faces are bigger than a few leaders. I made a lot of work about corporate influence in government, which is a problem in both parties and under any president. Shepard Fairey political party leader There are too many bad policy choices to go into that are being pushed by the Trump Administration, but the relaxation of environmental regulations and corporate and banking regulations alone are enough to keep me busy and should be a big concern for every citizen who isn't a billionaire and likes to breathe air. Shepard Fairey environmental choices relaxation I might be botching this quote but I agree with the idea that a measure of society is not how it treats its most powerful but how it treats its most vulnerable, including the poor and incarcerated and - I would add to that - the people whose ideas are not currently in favor. Shepard Fairey vulnerable powerful people A lot of people felt defeated and hopeless by Trump's election. But I feel his election should energize people to resist apathy, ignorance, sexism, xenophobia, and racism. Shepard Fairey ignorance racism people I do think that copyrights and intellectual property are important - it's important to be able to keep people from making verbatim copies of a particular creation that could somehow hurt the creator. If I spend time conceiving and making a piece of art and somebody else sees that it has market value and replicates it in order to steal part of my market, then that's not cool. Shepard Fairey hurt art thinking I think that the influence of people with power and money to distort democracy and have their interests served before the rest of the population is the biggest problem. That is caused by two things: campaign finance and the way that's structured, and by the Citizen's United supreme court decision. So those two things are keeping democracy from working right. Shepard Fairey two people thinking What excites me is that, when things are tough, people become resourceful, and now with the Internet, social networking and the ability for people who in the past had been relatively powerless, they have tools to be able to spread ideas and organize. The urgency is there and the tools are there and I think that the possibility for really, really powerful results is there. I think it's all brewing, it's all bubbling up right now. Shepard Fairey powerful past thinking
