Printed Matters – Lisbon Opens at Underdogs Gallery 7/21!

“Printed Matters” is a continuous series of exhibitions which focus on the importance of printed material in Shepard Fairey’s art. Each exhibition highlights this significance by incorporating a variety of the artist’s printed material—including screen prints on paper, editions on wood, editions on metal, and fine art collage—with new works added for each venue, making each “Printed Matters” exhibition a unique experience. Beginning in 2010, the “Printed Matters” platform was first presented in Los Angeles and for its next installment will exhibit in Lisbon at Underdogs Gallery and will be on view from 21 to 31 of July, and 1 to 23 of September. The gallery will be closed during August.

According to the artist:

“I’m a product of the era of mass production and the mass culture it has created. I can’t imagine my art practice without the influence of, and the use of, printing. Some of my biggest art influences were not paintings, but printed things like album covers, skateboard graphics, punk flyers, and T-shirt designs. When I discovered stencil making and screen printing in high school, I used them to make t-shirts and stickers, but by college I began to use screen printing to make art. I enjoyed illustration, photography, collage, and graphic design separately, but with screen printing I could synthesize those techniques into an integrated final product. Screen printing also provided latitude for experimentation and the ability to make multiples, and my style began to evolve as I explored the graphic nature of the medium. I tried to make images that would translate well to screen print production. A harmony of beauty, power, and utility was my goal.

Some people say print is on its way out, that it will be wiped out by digital media, but I say you can never replace the provocative, tactile experience of an art print on the street or in a gallery. Printing still matters.”

About the artist:

Shepard Fairey (1970) is regarded as one of the most important and prolific contemporary graphic and urban artists. Acknowledged pioneer in the use of stickers and posters as mediums for the dissemination of a new iconographic aesthetics, the American artist’s visual language combines revolutionary propaganda techniques, elements of contemporary pop culture, and the practice of appropriating the public space characteristic of graffiti and urban art. Strongly influenced by the DIY ethic associated with the skateboarding and hardcore punk scenes, he started out in 1989 with a massive dissemination campaign of stickers that reproduced the figure of the wrestler Andre the Giant, which took on iconic contours. In 1995 this would evolve into another art campaign with a new iconic figure accompanied by the slogan “OBEY”. He is the author of a vast number of art interventions in the public space in multiple countries with mediums spanning from collage to mural painting, as well as a graphic and visual body of works that makes use of screen printing, stenciling, painting, collage, and sculpture, among many others. In 2008 he gained considerable attention after creating the iconic “Hope” poster as a tool of grassroots activism during Barack Obama’s first presidential campaign. He has been exhibiting his work regularly in solo and group shows since 1993 and is represented in numerous public and private collections in various countries.

www.obeygiant.com

Press and sales enquiries: info@under-dogs.net —

Underdogs is a cultural platform based in Lisbon, Portugal that aims at creating space within the contemporary art scene for artists connected with the new languages of urban-inspired graphic and visual culture, fostering the establishment of partnerships and collaborative efforts between creators, cultural agents, exhibition venues and the city, contributing to establish a close relationship between these and the public. The Underdogs project rests on three complementary areas: a gallery; a public art program; and the production of original and affordable artist editions.

www.under-dogs.net