As previously reported on JSHNYC, Shepard Fairey has been busted by the Boston police (you remember, the same geniuses who brought us the Aqua Teen Hunger Force lightbox hysteria?) over two instances of Andre/Obey graffiti. What somebody down at the precinct doesn't seem to realize is that thousands of people out there are using his stickers and stencils.
Fairey pleaded not guilty today in court.
As if that wasn't bad enough, now he's having to sue the Associated Press to get them to stop harassing him over his Obama poster that used a stock news photo as its basis. Althought Fairey admits having used the news image as a starting point, he altered the image considerably - to the degree that it is now quite another image entirely.
There's no such thing as bad press, though, and I'm sure he's having a ball. All this notoriety comes at the same time as a major retrospective of his work in a Boston gallery, and nothing can take away the glory of having created the iconic "Hope" image. Shepard's long since passed the point of needing to give a fuck.
- - JSH
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