Things you should know about Shepard Fairey:
1. His birthday was last Friday… Happy Birthday Shep! Is it cool if we call you Shep? 2. He started out as a t–shirt and skateboard designer when he was around 14, designing easy–to–use stencils for his friends. 3. He went to Rhode Island School of Design, but was like, totally stifled by a traditional fine arts education. 4. Many have described his style as a collision of Warhol and social realism. 5. His stenciled design for Andre the Giant, a professional wrestler, pretty much went viral and arguably kickstarted his career. Andre the 6. Giant stickers were everywhere—billboards, street signs, buildings, you name it—across the United States. The design has now developed into a full–fledged clothing line. 7. His work is included in permanent collections around the country, a seemingly contradictory idea for a street artist. But as you’ll see if you continue reading, Fairey is a bundle of contradictions. 8. As a testament to his total badassery, Fairey was arrested before his first solo exhibition at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston on a warrant for vandalism (aka tagging).
