Last month the Stolen Space gallery in east London's Brick Lane hosted Nineteeneightyfouria, the first ever UK solo exhibition by legendary graffiti magnate Shepard Fairey. Preoccupied with oppression and control, the ambitious show included over 150 works. We spoke to Fairey about his career, his methods, and the ideas behind his art.
How's London been for OBEY wheat-pasting and bombing?
London has been great for bombing. I came over with a friend who used to live in London and knows a lot of good spots. We rented a van and went out every night: Brixton to Camden, Hammersmith to Brick Lane to Crouch End.
Didn’t you have a near death experience whilst postering in Hammersmith?
There was a spot that I saw the last time I was over and it looked really great. It’s a rooftop with a platform where there used to be a billboard, with some graffiti down low, but still plenty of room on the wall to do a piece. The spot didn’t look that treacherous from a distance, but you had to climb up a drainpipe to a steep slate roof. It was really slippery and wet, and I was holding on to the drainpipe and went to grab onto some bricks and when I tried to pull myself up the bricks slid off and I fell back. I luckily just grabbed back on to drainpipe. It was a two-storey drop behind me. It was one of those where your heart is racing and it’s really sketchy. But we pulled it off and when I got up close to the old graffiti, I realised that it was extremely faded - it had been there so long because it was so hard to get to. It was one of those spots that feels like a big accomplishment.