The saga of Shepard Fairey vs. the Associated Press finally came to a close today, as the LA-based street artist was sentenced to two years of probation and a $25,000 fine for committing criminal contempt of court. Fairey pled guilty to the charge earlier this year.
Barack Obama
Posted inNews
Obama Team Name-Drops Salvador Dalí
As we detailed two weeks ago, Mitt Romney made it clear in a recent interview with Fortune magazine that funding the arts is not his priority. Obama and his team haven’t exactly responded with a resounding defense or promotion of the arts (Will Brand speculates on why over at the L Magazine), but last night the Obama camp did at least show that it’s got a little bit of art history under its belt.
Posted inNews
Shepard Fairey Pleads Guilty to Contempt Charge in Manhattan District Court
The ordeal over Shepard Fairey’s Obama Hope image has turned a new corner when today the LA-based artist pled guilty to one count of criminal contempt for destroying documents, manufacturing evidence and other misconduct in civil litigation against the Associated Press regarding his world-renowned “Hope” poster.
Posted inArt
“Hope” As I See It From Across the Sea
PUNE, INDIA — Yet another “season” of American elections is at our doorstep. “Season” is well-accepted television jargon in India now. Many young, urban Indian tele-watchers have picked up the “season thing” easily. These young Indians also ardently follow and virtually participate in the very wellorganized, entertainingly televised and “branded” drama of American elections. Besides television, access to the internet with live information bombarding and constantly propagated graphical and video content has changed the scenario forever for our times. Staying updated about any specific domain or subject of your interest is click-easy.
Posted inNews
The White House’s Newest Norman Rockwell
Are there too many works by Norman Rockwell at the White House? Probably, but last Friday US President Barack Obama took time out of his schedule to discuss the 1963 painting by Norman Rockwell, titled “The Problem We All Live With,” with the representatives of the Norman Rockwell Museum and the woman who is depicted as a six year old girl in the work.
Posted inBooks
A Review of Designing Obama: The Book
By now, we all know that the 2008 Obama Presidential campaign was a great leap forward for the aesthetics of US election campaign, so it should come as no surprise that the director of the Obama campaign, Scott Thomas, decided to publish a book about the innovative Obama design brand and its impact on American pop and design cultures. The resulting book, titled Designing Obama: A Chronicle of Art & Design from the 2008 Presidential Campaign, is an attractive product that includes a short foreward by Pentagram partner Michael Bierut and an introduction by graphic design guru Steven Heller, who cleverly calls the brand “O Design.”
Posted inNews
AP Spreads Own Story, Urging Shepard Fairey to Settle Copyright Case
The Associated Press has disseminated a story that props up its own interests in the Shepard Fairey Obama “Hope” copyright case. Some people are wondering if the news service should’ve filed a story with no real updates except that things are still going well for the AP.
Posted inNews
Graphic Design Insanity Over Nuclear Summit Logo
In what can only be described as a case of visual illiteracy, Christopher Knight of the Los Angeles Times is dissecting the claim by some people on the wacky right that the logo of the recent Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, DC, is coded with Islamic imagery. No, you didn’t read that wrong.
Posted inArt
Best of the Aughts: The 11 Best Headlines for a Delusional Decade
We were recently deleting our hard drives from the aughts in an effort to upload everything into the cloud and we found these gems among the files. We almost forgot these things happened … oh wait, did they? Who remembers.
