People
Shepard Fairey Releases ‘We the People’ Series to Protest Trump
The posters, designed for protest, feature Native Americans, African Americans, Muslims, and Latinas.
The street artist Shepard Fairey has designed a series of posters in designed to protest President-elect Donald Trump, who will be inaugurated as President of the United States later today.
Taking its name from the first line of the US constitution, the series We the People features portraits of Native Americans, African Americans, Muslims, and Latinas depicted in Fairey’s trademark style, with slogans such as “Women are Perfect” and “Defend Dignity.”
The series was commissioned by non-profit organization Amplifier.
A poster from the We the People series by Shepard Fairey. Courtesy Obey Giant.
“We thought [they were the] groups that had been maybe criticized by Trump and maybe were going to be most, if not necessarily vulnerable in a literal sense, most feeling that their needs would be neglected in a Trump administration,” Fairey told CNN.
In a statement on Fairey’s website—where you can download the posters free of charge—the artist addresses those who might download the posters urging them to use the signs when taking part in the International Women’s March on Saturday January 21.
A poster from the We the People series by Shepard Fairey. Courtesy Obey Giant.
“It’s really about making sure that people remember that ‘we the people’ means everyone, it means all the people,” Fairey said. “I think the campaigns were very divisive, more from one side than the other. But [it’s] just reminding people to find their common humanity, and look beyond maybe one narrow definition of what it means to be American.”
Fairey, who designed the now iconic Hope (2008) poster featuring the then presidential hopeful Barack Obama, is opening an exhibition of works made with the archive of rock and roll photographer Jim Marshall at his Subliminal Gallery in Echo Park this evening, January 20.
A poster from the We the People series by Shepard Fairey. Courtesy Obey Giant.
On his site, he invites people to come at watch Trump’s inauguration at the gallery where they will also be able to collect free posters for tomorrow’s march.
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