Former President Donald Trump is to thank for world-famous, Charleston-born artist Shepard Fairey mixing it up again politically with a patriotic presidential poster — this time pushing Vice President Kamala Harris’s candidacy.
“I was shocked when Donald Trump was elected in 2016, and I thought that his lies, poor judgment and hateful character were self-evident enough to eliminate the possibility of him ever being politically viable again,” Fairey told the Charleston City Paper in an exclusive interview. “Unfortunately, I was wrong about that, and I’m extremely worried about the survival of democracy itself if Trump were to be re-elected.”
So in his first presidential poster in more than a decade, Fairey crafted a smiling, forward-looking image of Harris, with an airy blue palette in his signature, propaganda-inspired style, and all-caps text reading “FORWARD.” The text draws on the newfound Democratic Party rallying cry, “We are not going back,” which Harris reiterates on campaign stops across the country to contrast with Trump’s “Make America Great Again.”
Fairey explained he also was inspired to make a new presidential poster this year because of what Harris and her vision “symbolizes for the future.”
He noted that he had not been inspired to create a Joe Biden poster even though Biden “achieved many good things as president. … I was concerned that his time as a compelling and capable leader was in his twilight. (But) when Biden passed the torch to Kamala Harris, I saw an incredible contrast between both what she symbolizes and her vision for the future compared to Trump.”
Fairey, who cut his teeth as a street artist and bloomed into a sensational graphic designer and activist, is known for his blending of art and social commentary.
His 2008 “Hope” poster featuring then-candidate Barack Obama gained widespread recognition and has become recognized as a staple of political imagery. First disseminated as a street poster, the visionary image was later used to create thousands of stickers and T-shirts and was widely circulated online — illustrating how visual art can galvanize political support. In 2009, Fairey’s portrait of Obama was inducted into the Smithsonian Institution’s National Portrait Gallery.
Fairey’s street art roots
Like the 2008 “Hope” poster, Fairey’s new “Forward” poster presents its central figure in a singular, confident stance, and features his signature, high-contrast stencil technique. That technique is in fact inspired by the political messaging and bold graphics of Russian Constructivism — an early 20th century movement that supported art as a practice for social objectives.
Fairey’s work has always been associated with counterculture and dissent. That includes the imagery that started it all: his “André the Giant” series.
Fairey, also known by his company name “Obey” or “Obey Giant,” created a series of stickers and posters featuring the famous wrestler André the Giant in 1989 while he was a student at the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, Rhode Island (where he moved after his high school graduation from Porter-Gaud in Charleston).
The artist said of the Andre campaign, “The OBEY sticker attempts to stimulate curiosity and bring people to question both the sticker and their relationship with their surroundings. Because people are not used to seeing advertisements or propaganda for which the product or motive is not obvious, frequent and novel encounters with the sticker provoke thought and possible frustration, nevertheless revitalizing the viewer’s perception and attention to detail.”
The stickers made their way to cities up and down the East Coast, then across the country, then worldwide — achieving “viral” status without the internet. You can still find them around Charleston.
And then came 2008. Like Andre the Giant, the popularity of the “Hope” poster was a happy accident, Fairey said in a 2014 interview with the City Paper, explaining he believed in Obama and what he could bring to the country. So without any connection to or endorsement by the Democratic Party, Fairey created the poster and distributed it — guerilla-style. He’s doing that again in 2024 — with the new Harris poster available to download and print for free on obeygiant.com.
Moving ‘Forward’ in 2024
On Sept. 10, more than 67 million Americans tuned in to watch the debate between Harris and Trump. In the City Paper’s Sept. 13 opinion section, we reported that “S.C. Republicans were pretty quiet” about Trump’s debate performance, while Sam Skardon, chair of the Charleston County Democratic Party, said, “Kamala Harris is the future and Donald Trump is the past. We got one step closer to the future tonight.”
Fairey feels similarly. “My ‘Forward’ poster is meant to present Harris’s strengths,” he said. “I believe she has a vision for the future based on evolution and aspiration. She wants to move the country forward. Donald Trump is focused on grievances and a past that had less equality for women and people of color.”
Fairey reiterated, “These words from Harris, ‘we are not going back,’ summarize the moment we are in. … While we have not achieved all the goals we might be seeking, we are making progress, all in the face of expanding threats and regressive political adversaries.
“I believe Harris and Walz are our best chance to push back on encroaching fascism and threats to democracy. (They are) our best chance for creating the world we all desire and deserve.”
Mixed responses
Fairey said he’s received mixed responses to the poster, with many leftists especially criticizing Harris’ policies concerning the Israel-Palestine conflict. His belief is that Harris is the best choice, and his view, the “only choice when it comes to merging my idealism and my pragmatic understanding of what’s possible at this moment within the two-party system.”
Fairey said he hopes the poster will help to inspire voter turnout. In April, he was one of a group of artists enlisted by the advocacy organization People For The American Way (PFAW) to create art encouraging U.S. citizens to register to vote. He admits it’s easy to feel defeated by the two-party system, but that the only way to improve the system is to participate.
“Democracy doesn’t work as well as it should because voter turnout is not as high as it should be,” Fairey said. “Voter apathy means that deep-pocketed and influential forces can wield more influence within the system. Not participating makes this dynamic even worse. Our system is far from perfect, but it will be greatly improved if we have 100% voter turnout. For anyone who feels that their needs or ideals are not met within the system, the only choice is to get more involved because, though it may work slowly and not deliver everything one wants, the system is the mechanism to shape the democratic system.
“Politics is messy… but messy is no excuse for checking out,” he said. “Messy is the work, and the work can be joyful. Messy is what it takes to get through the daunting mess in pursuit of a better future. But we only win if we show up.”
The online deadline to register to vote is Oct. 6. Mail-in registration forms must be postmarked by Oct. 7. Check your voter registration status and make a plan to vote at scvotes.gov.
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