Obama ‘Hope’ artist Shepard Fairey on the power of the peace sign

Editor’s Note: Shepard Fairey is a street artist, graphic designer and activist. This is an edited excerpt from “Peace: Photographs by Jim Marshall,” published by Reel Art Press.

The peace sign has long been an important image and symbol for me, not just because I am pro-harmony and anti-war, but because it is the graphic icon that taught me the power of an easily recognized and reproduced symbol.

As a rebellious teen in the ’80s, I embraced the peace sign as an emblem of counterculture favored by skateboarders who listened to punk and reggae. Looking back, it is remarkable that the peace sign crossed over to punks who said “never trust a hippie!”

Even the reject-everything punks were susceptible to the graphic strength and allure of the peace sign. I was one of those punks and not only did the peace sign pique my interest visually, but it also led me to investigate anti-war ideas and movements.

I eventually ended up putting a “STOP THE ARMS RACE NOT THE HUMAN RACE” bumper sticker on the family station wagon, most likely as a domino effect catalyzed by a curiosity about the peace sign. Eventually, I had a professor, a hippie I trusted, who taught me about the Vietnam War, the anti-nuclear proliferation movement, and the protest movement against the Vietnam War in the late ’60s and early ‘70s.

My teacher was cool enough to mention the role symbols like the peace sign, the dove and flowers in the ends of guns played in the activist movement, and how especially the peace sign became pervasively woven into many areas of pop culture. In many ways, I think that the peace sign as an easily understood ubiquitous symbol of opposition to the Vietnam War played a major role in diminishing the public support for the war.

A legacy of protest

When I began to create images protesting the war in Iraq, I immediately thought of the success of the peace sign during the Vietnam era, and I began incorporating the symbol into many pieces of my work. Not only do I think the peace sign is strong visually, but it also brings to mind an activist movement whose energy and tactics created a widespread shift in the culture.

In the post 9/11 climate of fear and the rush to war with Iraq, I saw many parallels to the Vietnam era which inspired me to use the peace sign as a pacifist symbol, but also to remind people just how analogous the mistakes of Vietnam were to the mistakes in Iraq.

Looking at Jim Marshall’s images, I’m struck by how acutely he picked up on the rise of the Peace Sign as a counterculture, and later a dominant-culture, symbol.

Marshall has an image from 1963 (we can tell from the date on an ad poster) with a peace sign drawn on a subway wall. Many of Marshall’s photos are of graffiti of the peace sign with “ban the bomb” written next to it.

Marshall was obviously attuned to the peace sign as part of the anti-nuclear proliferation movement long before it reached a critical mass as a symbol of the anti-Vietnam War movement. These photos demonstrate Marshall’s keen eye for imagery signifying the counterculture and his awareness of the viral and do-it-yourself nature of the graffitied and handmade peace signs showing up on walls, guitar cases, and clothing.

What I find most exciting and unusual about these peace photographs is that symbols and slogans of peace dominated by the peace sign are the subjects of these portraits.

Artist: Shepard Fairey / Photographer: Ridwan Adhami / via amplifier foundation

In January 2017, artist Shepard Fairey released a set of three politically charged posters titled "We the People." The posters feature a Muslim woman, a Latina woman and an African-American woman.

Artist: Shepard Fairey / Photographer: Arlene Mejorado / via amplifier foundation

At the time, Fairey said he chose to portray these three groups because he felt they had been "criticized by Trump and maybe were going to be most, if not necessarily vulnerable in a literal sense, most feeling that their needs would be neglected in a Trump administration."

Artist: Shepard Fairey / Photographer: Delphine Diallo / via amplifier foundation

Fairey said he created the images in order to "make sure people remember that 'we the people' means everyone." The free to download posters were released online in partnership with the Amplifier Foundation.

Art Courtesy Shepard Fairey / ObeyGiant.com

Shepard Fairey's image of Donald Trump, created in 2016, is inspired by George Orwell's 1984. "The idea (is) of an all powerful Big Brother that is more or less dictating how people are living their lives because they are fearful and they feel watched all the time," explained Fairey in an interview with CNN in November 2016.

Courtesy of the Center for the Study of Political Graphics

His depiction of Barack Obama has become synonymous with the 2008 presidential election.

Art Courtesy Shepard Fairey / ObeyGiant.com

Fairey made art of Bernie Sanders in 2016. "I think art affects people emotionally, and if it affects them emotionally, then they want to find an intellectual rationale for how they were affected emotionally," said the 46-year-old artist. "So, I think that can create a conversation that wouldn't happen otherwise, and create breakthroughs that wouldn't happen otherwise."

courtesy shepard fairey via HOCA

"Public art is very important to me because it interacts with people and where they live," Fairey told CNN when he was in Hong Kong in 2016 producing public works with the HOCA Foundation.

courtesy shepard fairey via HOCA

This image by Fairey appeared on Hong Kong streets to coincide with a large exhibition of his works.

Art Courtesy Shepard Fairey / ObeyGiant.com

"I think it's very important for people to be outspoken about their beliefs towards justice," Fairey said.

Art Courtesy Shepard Fairey / ObeyGiant.com

"What I try to do with my art is use a visual to encourage someone to engage in a deeper conversation, rather than what most propaganda does, which is to say, this is how you think and this is the end of the conversation," Fairey told CNN.

Art Courtesy Shepard Fairey / ObeyGiant.com

Besides politics, Fairey's work also centers on themes of social justice, the environment and climate change.

Andrew Burton/Getty Images North America/Getty Images

A mural in the Lower East Side neighborhood of New York by Shepard Fairey.

Art Courtesy Shepard Fairey / ObeyGiant.com

This is one of Fairey's earliest works. "My Obey campaign was about putting things on the street that you normally wouldn't encounter," Fairey told CNN. "Something that's an alternative to advertising or government signage."

These portraits showcase an idea rather than pictures of famous musicians, scenesters or politicians, and the artful nature of the images indicate that Marshall saw the role of the peace sign as a crucial character or protagonist within the culture.

I’m most moved by the mystery and anonymity of the images that only show the peace sign and maybe accompanying text as the visible residue of an act of defiance. Small rebellious acts like a piece of graffiti pushing back against injustice, encourage me to take action and remind me that regardless of how alone I may feel, there are kindred spirits out there.

I think Jim Marshall saw the value in documenting the evidence that something’s happening out there!

“Peace: Photographs by Jim Marshall,” published Reel Art Press, is out now.

“Peace: Love, Rock and Revolution - Photographs by Jim Marshall” is on show at ACA Galleries in New York until Sept. 30, 2017, and at H.M. Electric Gallery in London until Sept. 24, 2017.