Friday, August 12, 2011

Shepard Fairey Gets His Ass Kicked Over Street Art--UPDATE



The Guardian is reporting that Shepard Fairey, otherwise known as 'Obey', got beaten up in Copenhagen, Denmark because of strong feelings directed towards one of his murals. Shepard said, "I have a black eye and a bruised rib'.

Reportedly, some locals were upset about a spot where Shepard had painted a mural. The building that the mural went up on was right next to a spot where a separate building, and activist hang out, was demolished by the city. Shepard's mural featured a dove and the word 'peace', but apparently some locals are not yet ready to put the old feelings behind them. They were upset at the way it seemed like the city was trying to 'make nice' and sweep the discontent under the carpet. Shepard has maintained that the city had nothing to do with his mural. Shepard refused to press charges on his attackers.

Other than getting banged up, Shep seems to be okay. He posted a shot summary of his time in Copenhagen on his site, and says a further, more thorough explanation is yet to come.

***UPDATE-Shepard just posted his take on the events that went down. Shepard is very articulate, and we have mad respect for his forging a trail and trying to do his thing no matter what people say. And yet he has found himself in a somewhat awkward position where he is too corporate for street and too street for mainstream. Still, Shep that despite this demoralizing experience, he is going to keep doing his thing. You can read all his words HERE***

-Black eye pic taken by Jon Furlong.

9 comments:

  1. denmark is not a walk in the park.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ass kicked? More like assaulted. Big difference.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Shepard's side
    http://obeygiant.com/headlines/obey-copenhagen-post-2-bad

    ReplyDelete
  4. Don't forget to show the lower part of the mural which is not really that "peaceful".

    ReplyDelete
  5. in a weird way im kind of happy is that wrong?

    ReplyDelete
  6. Fairey profited from the Copenhagen 69 Youth House, He got the beat down in Denmark because they saw him as a capitalist, imperialist propagandist.
    It was only a matter of time before this black eyed peas event would occur. The only reason it hasn't happened in Los Angeles is because of the Shepard Fairey finance team $$ or the possibility of a minuscule show thrown to a local LA graf artist by Fairey and his finances. No one wants to burn a bridge in the graf world, because it can devastate your graf career.
    Wake the fuck up Los Angeles! You were there hitting up in the 80's and whose going to back you when the Fairey cookie crumbles Saber, Risk, Sticky Ricks, Shark Toof, Cope2......?

    Sell-Out Fairey has always had one agenda "HIS" Fuck over as many people as you can! I have one book for you Fairey so read it! by Seth Tobocman "You Don't Have to Fuck People Over to Survive"

    Shepard writes "I sympathize with the struggles of humanity" Really if thats's the case then why does fairey profit and exploit images of political prisoners, dissenters and freedom fighters for his own financial gain?

    You didn't even give the LA photographer Elizabeth Daniels credit for her photo of your work in a major museum show at MOCA "Art in The Streets" She gets an apology after the show is almost over? What kind of bullshit is that?

    ReplyDelete
  7. Why do all the people with something mean to say always post anonymous? Are you hating on saber, risk and company because they are all dope, but they all have been commissioned for art pieces. Bottom line if you dont like what Mr. Fairy stands for then dont buy his crap, but dont celebrate violent assaults caused by doing work he is paid to do. They only people who deserve to get attacked for doing their jobs are politicians.

    -w16

    ReplyDelete
  8. he aint get beat down!! cmon he got jumped!! by 6 punkass mofos out there i know the deal bitchass mofos wanna step to him 6 deep while hes with 1 of his peoples and wifey cmon!! thats some faggot shit have some respect if homies with his wifey!!
    the crazy shit is i was gonna go to the after party i wish i did cause i wouldve stopmed out them punkass mofos!!! cmon 6 dudes jumped him and aint do shit sheprock is still good!!
    they wouldnt try that shit on me!!!
    ayo sheprock its all good you still win cause they jumped you and you rocked there town!!!
    there like these nyc mofos a bunch of haters!!!! bigcope2!!!! bronx niggas dont play!!!

    ReplyDelete
  9. LUV
    YA
    BROTHER...
    HOPE
    EVERYTHING
    WORKS
    OUT...
    @KRS108
    aka
    NiHiList Cunt crew
    (downtown los angeles)

    talk

    ReplyDelete