Shepard Fairey

So every once in a while I’m sitting around trying to attach a SQL database to a laptop when a random request comes my way.

“Steve, Shepard Fairey is coming tomorrow and no one is covering it. Can you shoot it?”

“Yes.”

And with that I found myself covering a very small and almost completely unknown, but supposedly public Shepard Fairey wheatpasting extravaganza up on Girard Ave. It was me and a freelancer sent by the Fishtown Star.

The event itself was pretty awesome. Highlights included the fact that the man himself is a gracious, friendly and by all accounts decent human being… which goes against the norm with a lot of people of his stature and fame. Otherwise it was interesting to hear war stories from his collaborations with Banksy, witness a wheatpaste project from start to finish and finally fulfill my personal mission to ask him about the Toynbee tiles. That cuts my list by a third:

Shepard Fairey ✔
William Gibson X
Larry King X

For the record, he knows of them, but not much about them. My experience has been that most street artists that retain anonymity do so only outside their circle of peers. Within the club, they’re well known. Being completley anonymous has caused the Toynbee tiler to slip completley under the radar… even among fellow artists.

I did explain how non-labor intensive their installation was and encouraged him to explore the medium. I highly doubt anything will come of it.

All in all, it was a good event that totally blew my previous day’s meeting of Tony “no photos” Danza out of the water. Here are some shots from the afternoon. Click on any to enlarge.

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