Street Artist Shepard Fairey Unveils Massive Detroit Mural

Shepard Fairey Photo: Patrick McMullan

Street artist Shepard Fairey is creating his biggest mural to date at One Campus Martius in Detroit this week.

Due for completion on Thursday, the mural—which was financed by Bedrock Real Estate Services—will be an immense 186 x 60 feet and will decorate the side of the old huge Compuware Building in Downtown Detroit. The mural co-insides with a local exhibition, “Printed Matters,” at the LSC Gallery nearby.

“The thing I love in Detroit is that despite the financial woes there’s always been a real appreciation for art,” Fairey told the Detriot Free Press, adding that he would also be tagging in the area. “I still do stuff on the street without permission. I’ll be doing stuff on the street when I’m in Detroit. But the idea of being able to infiltrate the system on its own terms and make things better from within is something I’ve always believed in.”

In total, Fairey is creating three separate groups of works, all of which will be open to the public this weekend.  Along with the mural and the gallery show Fairey will be adding two works to mural space The Belt behind the LSC Gallery space. There are 24 works on The Belt which spans a block of city. Within The Belt sits Public Space where LSC show framed work which is also accessible to the public 24/7. The works created for Public Space will be donated to the local Detroit Academy of Arts & Sciences as is one work from every group of works shown.

Shepard Fairey created a similarly huge mural in Los Angeles last year (See LA Keeps Beloved Mural, Gets a New One from Shepard Fairey).