Populist artist Shepard Fairey drew a crowd (an "ad-hoc art community" were my original and much better MCASD-retweeted words) as he appeared to be initiating a mural on Wednesday, July 14th. The phase of work was unclear but the first positive-space elements (ornate gold Venetian-esque motifwork) were going up by early evening. Residents and a lot of the casual guests at the Holiday Matinee/Threadless pop-up craft event were browsing and photographing the very gracious Obey Giant team. Having seen "Exit Through The Gift Shop," I couldn't help but feel a little bothersome ogling, but remembered that at this point in his artistic career, Shepard Fairey is definitely used to it (granted, the cover of night seems to be his typical "installation" time).
Shepard Fairey (as part of a curatorial team interview for KPBS radio yesterday morning) discussed the positive aspect of transitioning his aesthetic into the gallery context, citing the consumption of the street-art visual language by graphic design as a good impetus for returning to the gallery as a means of critically engaging with a graphic style that has a tendency to be rendered meaningless by commercialism. I particularly liked his idea/solution dichotomist approach as I think that demonstrates the value of the creative industry, and his admitted mindfulness of an insider/outsider strategy to facilitate a transformation of intellectual engagement for an art world that dwells, in my opinion, in a gray relativism.
"Outsider street art was an absolute necessity to me," Fairey said. "I didn't want to pander to the art system."
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More photos after the jump!
