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NEW 24-hour timed print release. Cleon Peterson and I are sharing new works TOGETHER which will benefit the ACLU, based on shared principles. More details below!
After watching the January 6th hearings, I called Shepard, and we talked about the testimony and how it affected us. I told him I was thinking about releasing some posters on the subject. Shepard and I have been close friends for 25 years. For over a decade, we sat next to each other, working and sharing our ideas about the world. How we see things and what our place is. I mentioned that I’d always felt driven by hatred of what I saw as unjust authority. In my 20s, I felt like a social outsider, cast out and alienated from society. I didn’t have the self-knowledge to understand that I’d put myself in that position as much as anyone else. Shepard mentioned how reactionary rebellion has shifted in him too. As I’ve grown older, I’ve begun to realize that if I want to be part of the world, I can’t assume the spectator’s role; I need to have some skin in the game and voice what I see as right and wrong. Shepard mentioned that he’d been working on some prints related to the subject too. So in the spirit of 2 friends sitting next to each other as we did years ago, we came up with the idea that this would be an excellent opportunity to present our work and thoughts jointly, sharing the dialogue we, as friends and citizens, have practiced for years. We also hope to inspire other artists to use their voices through their art and other outlets.
–Cleon Peterson
July 4th is a day to reflect on the principles that inspired American independence and what it means to be a steward of the best of those principles in the current moment. As Cleon said, he and I have long maintained a suspicion of unjust authority, but have evolved over the years to blend a questioning of narratives and structures with a sense of civic responsibility. We both want to help improve the health of the society we and all individuals comprise and depend on, not for personal gain or power, but to improve our collective quality of life. We are experiencing a pervasive mass psychosis fueled by fear and disinformation, which breeds animosity, tribalism, and skepticism about truth and facts. A psychologically handicapped society cannot function properly, much less deliver solutions for the greater good. I believe in truth and democracy, which means I think that if people, regardless of political party, are given honest information and the full picture, they benefit from the power to decide on policies and leaders that shape the society we live in. When objective reality itself is corrupted by perpetual coordinated lies and democracy is undermined, the societal systems we rely upon, and benefit from, begin to break down. We are at a critical moment for the preservation of democracy and non-partisan access to voting for all citizens of voting age. Between the Supreme Court, partisan gerrymandering shaping state legislatures, and the filibuster as a tool of obstruction in Congress, we are already facing tyranny by the minority. The forces dominating our politics do not reflect the values of most Americans. My print, Alternative Facts, addresses the mass confusion about truth that allows the parties who spread the big lie about the 2020 election (and many other lies) fomented the January 6th insurrection and are engaged in voter suppression and other anti-democracy schemes, to flourish unchecked. A portion of proceeds from Alternative Facts will benefit the ACLU in its legal fights against voter suppression and other attacks on the constitution.
Thank you to those with the courage to testify in the January 6th hearings and those who take the time to engage knowledgeably and meaningfully in our civic discourse.
–Shepard Fairey
Please Note: This is a timed-release. Everyone will have an opportunity to complete their purchase within the sale time.
OBEY STORE PRINT DETAILS:
Alternative Facts. 24 x 24 inches. Screen print on thick cream Speckletone paper. Signed by Shepard Fairey. Comes with a Digital Certificate of Authenticity provided by Verisart. $90. Proceeds go to ACLU. Available on Monday, July 4th @ 11 AM PT (24-Hour Release) at https://store.obeygiant.com. Max order: 1 per customer/household. International customers are responsible for import fees due upon delivery (Except UK). ALL SALES FINAL.
Information about Cleon Peterson’s prints, Link to Purchase:
TRUTH, (What Have We Lost), The Devil Made Me Do It, & Divided We Stand, United We Fall
The saying goes, “The darkest hour is before the dawn.”
I’m so proud of the brave Americans who are putting themselves at risk by taking a stand to expose the lies that have enabled this nightmare to fester. This feeling has moved me to share some works I made but hesitated to release, not wanting to throw gasoline on the fire in that tumultuous post-election moment.
The TRUTH image ran in the New York Times right before the election in the opinion feature, What Have We Lost. The Devil Made Me Do it & Divided We Stand, United We Fall were both made on January 6th in response to the Faustian bargain that Trump and his accomplices made in designing the coup. Today we find ourselves at a crossroads; now, more than ever, is the time we need to come together, take a stand, exercise our voices, and fight for Truth and Democracy. Hopefully, daylight will cast off this right-wing authoritarian spell. I see these posters as markers of a historical time and feel a duty within to share my views. We’re all exhausted by politics, but we must embrace the moment and take action because the threat is fundamental; our democracy could be gone in the blink of an eye.
I’d like to offer these prints on my site from today – July 4th. The edition will be determined by the quantity sold. If many people buy this print, I will make many; if just a few purchase this print, I will make only a few. Once the sale closes on July 4th the edition will be set and the prints will be produced and shipped.
CLEON PETERSON’S STORE PRINT DETAILS:
All Hand-pulled screen prints will measure 18 x 24 inches. They will be printed on 290gsm Coventry Rag paper with deckled edges. Each print will be signed and numbered. Edition determined by quantity sold.
A portion of proceeds from all print sales will benefit the ACLU in their legal fights against voter suppression and other attacks on the constitution.
https://www.aclu.org/issues/voting-rights
Video to link on Mass Psychosis:
MASS PSYCHOSIS – How an Entire Population Becomes MENTALLY ILL
