OBEY: The Art Of Shepard Fairey
MTN is proud to support OBEY: The Art of Shepard Fairey exhibition, at the Fabbrica del Vapore in Milan.
As a pioneer brand in the world of graffiti and urban art, MTN shows its support for the iconic artist Shepard Fairey “OBEY” by sponsoring this event, continuing to build a historical relationship between the two entities. OBEY: The Art of Shepard Fairey brings to Italy for the first time a museum exhibition entirely dedicated to Shepard Fairey (OBEY), one of the most influential and internationally recognized street artists, whose art has shown the evolution of Street Art and its languages. The exhibition, on view from May 16 to 27 October 2024, in the Cattedrale spaces at Fabbrica del Vapore in Milan, offers the public an unprecedented opportunity to explore Obey’s artistic universe.
OBEY is the word that Shepard Fairey chooses for his art campaign, provocatively. OBEY is a term consistently used by the street artist throughout his artistic production, not to suggest unconditional and passive obedience to the observer, but to encourage critical thinking and disobedience to social conventions when necessary. Among his numerous works, HOPE stands out, created before Obama’s election campaign and adopted officially leading to the presidency, which in 2008 definitively established the artist’s success on a global scale. The works of OBEY have become icons, serving as flags of hope and peace for the people.
In the PEACE AND JUSTICE section, one can find pieces such as Defend Dignity, the central image of the 2017 We The People campaign, used by protesters advocating for a more inclusive America.
Music has been, and still is, a great source of inspiration for OBEY: provocative songs by bands like the Sex Pistols, Black Flag, and Public Enemy accompanied Shepard Fairey’s adolescence. Of this art form, OBEY particularly admires the accessibility and the ability to reach people’s hearts and minds in a visceral and direct way. Shepard Fairey emulates the universal aspect of musical language and translates it into his own bold and provocative style.
Tommaso Sacchi, Councillor for Culture of the City of Milan said “This exhibition represents a journey, the first-ever in Italy, into the artistic universe of Shepard Fairey, one of the most influential international street artists, and proves the City’s ongoing commitment to supporting and producing cultural initiatives that, through art, encourage reflections on universal themes such as peace, equality justice, environmental protection, and the universality of music. Especially during this historical moment, nothing is more important than emphasizing that, as the artist himself says, there is no us against them; there is only one us.”
