Film About the Early Years of Shepherd Fairey and Origin of Obey Giant

Andre the Giant by Shepard Fairey

Director Julian Marshall is creating a feature length narrative film about the early years of Shepherd Fairey and the origin of his “Obey Giant” street art campaign. Marshall is raising funds for the project on Kickstarter.

The film takes place in Providence, Rhode Island, in September of 1990, when Shepard was attending Rhode Island School of Design, studying illustration. In an illustration class, titled Style and Substance, Shepard received a historic assignment that would later establish his legacy in Providence, Rhode Island. Each student in the class was given a fortune cookie, and tasked with illustrating his or her respective fortune. Shepard’s fortune read: TO AFFECT THE QUALITY OF THE DAY IS NO SMALL ACHIEVEMENT. He then decided to paste his Andre graphic over the face of notorious Providence Mayor, Buddy Cianci, on his re-election billboard, located in the heart of the city. And to affect the quality of the day, HE DID! Not only was this the first billboard Shepard had ever done, It also attracted mass public exposure and had the news talking for days. At its base, this film is a success story about a young artist finding his voice in a world where machine politics control the conversation.

via Vandalog

photo by el-pablo

E.D.W. Lynch
E.D.W. Lynch

Writer and humor generalist on the Internet and on Facebook.