Old Invasion

A classic sticker invasion riding in Hollywood.

With an old school Space Invader, a buffed Obey, a dated Bankrupt Slut and Asmar riding old but high.

See Things Differently - Create Your Future

Shepard Fairey gets a new sponsored billboard for the LA Fund.

This one says 'See Things Differently - Create Your Future' with some signature Obey iconography.

Like with Retna, its a strange brave new world where artists go from bombing billboards to being given them. What are the new rules?

Obey is a Printing Machine

Obey has supporters and haters, but no matter which side of the fence you stand on, everyone can agree that Obey is a printing machine.

Here is a sticker inferring as much, stuck up in downtown Los Angeles along with Bankrupt Slut.

Joel Bloom Has a Posse

A caricature of Joel Bloom turned into a spoof of Obey's Andre the Giant Has a Posse sticker.

This time, Joel Bloom has an AD/NW posse, and he gets stuck up in the downtown Arts District.

Obey Gets Doubled Up

Obey had a sticker riding here, but after it got partially torn and buffed, Obey maintained the spot by doubling up another sticker on the same pole.

With Asmar looking on in the background.

How Come Only the Bad Guys are Buying?

Legislative influence is still for sale.  But how come only the bad guys are buying influence?

Because it is more profitable to abuse the system than use the system to take care and protect citizens.

Legislative influence is still up for sale, like this Obey piece is riding in downtown Los Angeles.  And the bad guys are the only ones buying.

Watch out, America.

Old School Obey

An old school styled sticker from Obey.

Even though the style is old, this is a fresh slap stuck up in Silverlake.

Riding with CVRT.

Mark Zuckerberg Loves Shepard Fairey

A street sticker showing Facebook founder Mark Zuckerburg wrapped up in an embrace with an Andy Warholified Shepard Fairey.

Guess this is like a street art valentine.

The Streets are Always Changing - and Here's Proof!

The streets are always changing, and here is on-the-street proof of how quickly things change.

This picture was taken of a parking sign in Silverlake.  There is a wooden heart from Korsen affixed to the pole, and also some other stickers.

One of the stickers lower down on the pole is a picture of a photograph that was photographed of the exact same location.  It was printed out, and then brought back to this exact location.  Which is cool in its own way.  And it got even cooler when another huge sticker from Shie 47/Serch went up, demonstrating with street proof how the streets are always changing.

Click the jump to see close of pics of what is going on here!

God Gets Up, Satan Buffs

One of Obey's pro-gun control wheat paste posters got 'censored' by some street buffing.

This buffing was not done by a city worker but by someone familiar with the street art world, who obviously doesn't want this idea to get out.  Only the NRA up top, and the message down below has been scratched off.  Its funny how there are so many street art pieces all over featuring violent images, or guns, yet those never get messed with.  Why is gun and violent imagery okay? But saying we should control guns is somehow threatening?  It is a strange world . . .

Guess this is just an example of how God gets up trying to spread the good message, while Satan runs the buff.

Click the jump for a closer look at Satan's work.  If you want to see what the full original piece looked like, check it out HERE

Tribute to Stuart Noble in the Downtown Art District

Stuart Noble was a major player in the Arts District, and a big supporter/paster upper of Obey street art pieces in Los Angeles and beyond.  Stuart passed away last week after getting hit by an automobile in downtown.  And now, there is an Obey themed tribute wall dedicated to Stuart on the Traction downtown Arts District wall.

The face of Andre the Giant serves as a canvas for friends and colleagues to write their goodbye's, and Stuart's unruly nature is reflected in his friend's well wishes for "Tossers Unite!".  But perhaps the sentiment shared most by everyone simply says 'Gratitude for your devotion to the arts'.~

Irreverent Graffiti & Street Art

Revered gets irreverent with graffiti up with roller graffiti on Alameda, which has been riding for a few years.

Meanwhile, a giant Obey paster rides underneath.

Your Mother Sucks Cocks in Hell

Another pro-gun control paster from Obey.

This one is on Melrose and it is joined by a long paster saying America has Gunorrhea and a sticker over the barrel of the gun saying 'Your Mother Sucks Cocks in Hell'.

Ouch.

America - The Land Where God Saves and Satan Invests

A street paster from Obey aimed at the NRA and the social environment where people think they need a gun to survive.  Guns, by definition, make it hard to survive.

Perhaps God wouldn't need to save America as much if Americans didn't invest in Satan's guns.

Less guns = save more lives.  Furthermore, the bigger your gun = the smaller your dick.  Its as simple as that.

Let's Go to Prison - Obey & Andre 2006

Obey, Andre and King Kong riding on the Melrose rooftops, circa 2006.

Dig these flashback shots, and the way the rooftops used to be filled with art, but look more clean.

Its crazy how things change, yet they still stay the same, and seven years later believe this same monkey is still hanging around the graffiti and street art scene on Melrose.

Obey Street Art is Cool Like Diamond Supply

Funny scene happening here.  A classic and iconic paster from Obey featuring Andre the Giant gets pastered up in Los Angeles.

Then, up close on the face, someone came and tagged things like 'Steezy!' and 'Diamond Supply Co.!'.

Its funny because even though it isn't meant as an insult, it is.  In fact, its probably meant as a compliment.  However, comparing Obey street art to Diamond Supply Co. shows how Obey is viewed as a corporate brand by the masses, not as street art.

Shepard Fairey has dismissed the accusations of selling out.  But the fact remains that more people know Obey as a clothing line than a street art effort.  Furthermore, most people in general society recognize Shepard Fairey as the artist who designed the Obama Hope poster, not as the artist behind Obey.

The street art community might still recognize Shepard and Obey as a street art entity, but if most people don't, when does street art from Obey become street advertising like Diamond Supply Co.?

Or has it already?

Obey - Up on the Rooftop

Obey gets up on the rooftop on Melrose, claiming a spot above a recently closed down gallery.

Twelve Pack Killers on Burrito Night

Food oriented stickers getting stuck up in East Hollywood with slaps from Twelve Pack Killers, Burrito Night, and a non-food slap from Obey.

Found near Vermont and Hollywood.

Obey the Giant - The Story of Shepard Fairey

OBEY THE GIANT - The Story of Shepard Fairey from Julian Marshall on Vimeo.


A new 'movie' has been released entitled 'Obey the Giant - The Story of Shepard Fairey'.  We put 'movie' in quotation marks because it only 20 mins long, which makes more of a video than a movie.  This seems worth mentioning because the film itself is unusual because the footage does not portray actual interviews or scenes or Shepard, rather, there is an actor other than Shepard Fairey playing his role.  It is fictionalized but based-on-a-true-story, and comes off like the History Channel take on street art.

The dramatization of the piece is almost humorous, as street art is presented as nothing more than a means to get famous.  This movie will likely do little to help Shepard's reputation as a sell-out.  You can't help but root for the guy cast as Shep as he is presented as the outcast rebel hero, yet the portrayal of the film makes it seem like the sole reason he gets up, or ever did, was just because he "wanted attention".  There is no context or content attributed to Fairey's art in the film.  The only valid arguments offered for art are shouted down and the final reason Shep says he uses the Andre the Giant image is "because it was on TV and I thought it was funny".

In fact, after watching this, and how Shep gets lambasted and threatened by local Mayor Buddy Cianci, it is surprising that Cianci hasn't played a larger role in Shepard's art.

Our final review is that speaking as someone involved in the street art scene, the fictionalized Obey the Giant film cheapens and tokenizes the genre.  However, for those completely outside the street art world, this film might be an entertaining introduction, although in doing so it also presents a shallow and short sighted welcome to what street art is.  After all, according to this movie, all it takes is random image from TV and if you plaster it around the city enough you will get straight A's, get the bad guy's daughter as your girl and get famous.  Its like the Brainwash method diluted.   Check it out, and see what you think.  We feel it is a well produced film that sells street art down a shallow river, and the fictionalized documentary shooting style always seems strange.

Obey, and Get Up Hippo's

Obey gets up on a La Brea rooftop with an old Andre paster head.

And on the ledge in front is a graffiti bomb from the Hippo Crew.

Stay up!