1. Shepard Fairey -From Punk rock skateboarder to world renowned artist.

2. Shepard’s humble beginnings… Frank Shepard Fairey was born in Charleston, South Carolina on February 15, 1970. Fairey began to develop an interest in art in 1984. First, putting his designs on Skateboards and T-shirts. Fairey graduated with a Bachelors degree of fine arts in illustration in 1992. Fairey began his climb to notoriety by creating the “Andre the Giant has a Posse” sticker campaign. This campaign later evolved in to the Obey movement.

3. The Artist Shepard Fairey is a contemporary artist, graphic designer, and illustrator. Fairey does not limit himself to graphic design and print work. He has used other mediums such as paint on canvas, wood, metal, and Rubylith. He also creates stickers. Fairey has created over 500 different prints. The Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston calls him one of today's best known and most influential street artists.

4. From “Street Art” to more commercial endeavors….. Along with this successful graphic designing care. Fairey is also DJ's at many clubs under the name DJ Diabetic and Emcee Insulin, in reference to his diabetic condition. Fairey was a founding partner, along with Dave Kinsey and Phillip DeWolff, of the design studio BLK/MRKT Inc. from 1997-2003. With Clients including Pepsi, Hasbro, Mozilla, and Netscpae. In 2003 he founded the Studio Number One design agency with his wife Amanda Fairey. The agency produced the cover for The black eyed Peas “Monkey Business” and the poster for the movie “Walk the Line.” Fairey has also designed the covers for The Smashing Pumkins’ album “Zeitgeist”, Flogging Molly’s CD/DVD “Whiskey on a Sunday,” the Led Zepplelin compilation “Mothersip” and Anthrax’s “The Greater Of two Evils.”

5. Politically Conscious art works In 2004, Fairey joined artists Robbie Conal and Mear One to create a series of “anti- war, anti- bush” posters for a street art campaign called "Be the Revolution" for the art collective "Post Gen.” For the 2008 election fairy produced a series of poster, including the iconic Hope print. Fairey distributed 300,000 stickers and 500,000 posters during the campaign. Shepard Fairey's influence throughout the presidential election was a factor in the artist himself having been named a Person of the Year for 2008 by GQ. In January 2009, the "HOPE" portrait was acquired by the US National Portrait Gallery and made part of its permanent collection. “I would like to thank you for using your talent in support of my campaign. The political messages involved in your work have encouraged Americans to believe they can change the status-quo. Your images have a profound effect on people, whether seen in a gallery or on a stop sign. I am privileged to be a part of your artwork and proud to have your support.” -- Barack Obama, February 22, 2008

6. Critics Fairey has come under criticism for appropriating others' artwork into his own while failing to provide attribution for the work used. In 2009, it was revealed that the HOPE poster was based on a copyrighted photograph taken in April 2006 by Mannie Garcia while on assignment for the Associated Press. Erick Lyle has accused Fairey of cynically turning graffiti culture into a self-promoting ad campaign. Bloggers have criticized Fairey for accepting commissions from corporations such as Saks Fifth Avenue.