Shepard Fairey OBEY – Ai Weiwei Cost of Expression 2014 Screen Print
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Shepard Fairey OBEY – Ai Weiwei Cost of Expression 2014 Screen Print
Gauntlet Gallery · Authenticated Street Art
Shepard Fairey (OBEY) Ai Weiwei — Cost of Expression
2014 Screen Print · Hand-Signed & Numbered · Edition of Only 375 · Political Art Landmark
★ One of 375 — Political Art with Real Stakes · Released in solidarity with imprisoned Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei. Fairey donated 100 prints to the Brooklyn Museum. A document of resistance, not just a print.
What You Are Getting
This is Shepard Fairey’s Ai Weiwei — Cost of Expression, an original 2014 screen print hand-signed and numbered by Fairey from an edition of 375. It is one of the most politically charged prints of Fairey’s career — a direct act of solidarity with Chinese dissident artist and activist Ai Weiwei, released in conjunction with the Brooklyn Museum retrospective Ai Weiwei: According to What? and produced in partnership with Friends of Ai Weiwei, the international pressure group campaigning for free expression. At an edition of 375 — with 100 prints donated directly to the Brooklyn Museum — the number available to private collectors was strictly limited from the moment of release.
The composition is a large-scale close portrait of Ai Weiwei rendered in Fairey’s signature high-contrast stencil style in four tones: cream (the paper ground), red, black, and brilliant metallic gold. The subject faces left, gaze elevated — a posture common to heroic portraiture from Soviet propaganda through mid-century revolutionary posters. The background is a dramatic diagonal field that transitions from deep red to metallic gold, with dense radiating halftone lines that fade and dissolve like broadcast interference or the spread of signal. A small OBEY eagle/lion medallion — Fairey’s secondary emblem — appears as a stamp in the upper-right field. The figure wears a dark coat. Flame-like brushwork fills the beard and hair with extraordinary detail: fine white lines, red flare strokes, and gold filaments, a technique Fairey used in his most ambitious political portraits of this era.
The portrait is based on a 2010 photograph by Chinese photographer Gao Yuan. Critically, the photograph — and therefore this print — documents the physical aftermath of a specific act of state violence: the scars visible on Ai Weiwei’s head are the result of a 2009 assault by undercover police officers in Chengdu, where Ai had traveled to testify on behalf of victims of the Sichuan earthquake. Fairey made this context explicit in his artist statement. The subject’s injuries are literally in the work. This is not decorative portraiture.
“I admire Ai Weiwei for his art and his activism. His art is beautiful in form, and in function embodies the principles of populism and social consciousness I aspire to in my own practice. This poster is a tribute to Ai Weiwei’s art, his courage to be outspoken, and in support of his ongoing political struggle with the Chinese government. I hope the image will help raise awareness and advance dialogue that might lead to permission for Ai Weiwei to travel freely and continue to express himself.”
— Shepard Fairey, April 2014
Why This Print Matters Beyond the Market
Ai Weiwei had been detained by Chinese authorities for 81 days in 2011 without charge — an event that made international headlines and galvanized the global art community. His passport was confiscated for four years, preventing him from traveling. The Cost of Expression title is not metaphor: it is a direct statement about the price Ai Weiwei paid — physically, legally, personally — for making work that challenged the Chinese state. When Fairey published this print in April 2014, Ai was still prohibited from leaving China.
Print Details
Artist
Shepard Fairey (OBEY)
Title
Ai Weiwei — Cost of Expression
Year
2014
Medium
Screen print — 4 colors on cream Speckletone paper
18″ × 24″ (46 × 61 cm) — confirmed per Obey Giant release and auction records; please measure your copy before listing
Edition Number
[X]/375 — confirm pencil notation lower left or lower right before listing; update this field
Edition Size
375 — Fairey donated 100 prints to the Brooklyn Museum, leaving approximately 275 for private collectors
Signature
Hand-signed and numbered in pencil by Shepard Fairey
Subject
Ai Weiwei — portrait based on 2010 Gao Yuan photograph; shows scars from 2009 Chengdu police assault
Compositional elements
Diagonal red-to-gold halftone radiant background; OBEY eagle/lion medallion, upper right; flame-detail beard and hair rendering; dark coat
Publisher
Obey Giant / Studio Number One, in partnership with Friends of Ai Weiwei
Release date
April 8, 2014 — timed to Brooklyn Museum “Ai Weiwei: According to What?” retrospective (April 18–August 10, 2014)
Paper
Cream Speckletone — thick stock, straight-cut edges, white border visible
Condition
Please note any condition specifics from physical inspection before listing. Examine for handling marks, corner softening, or surface scuffs typical in prints of this format. Note anything present.
Visual Elements — Confirmed from Photographs
What appears in the composition (confirmed from detail photos): Central figure: Ai Weiwei — large-scale close portrait, face turned three-quarter left, gaze elevated. Rendered in four-color high-contrast stencil with exceptional fine-line detail in beard and hair. · Hair and beard: Extraordinary detail — fine white hatching lines, red flame strokes, metallic gold filaments against deep black; the beard and hair dissolve into flame-like strokes toward the edges. · Background: Deep red field (upper half) transitioning diagonally to metallic gold (lower right). Dense radiating halftone lines that decay from full black to fine filaments, creating a signal/broadcast fade effect. · OBEY medallion: Eagle/lion emblem in gold linework, upper right within the red field — Fairey’s secondary iconic stamp. · Figure clothing: Dark coat with gold-outlined lapels and red accent flares. · Paper border: Cream/ivory Speckletone visible as a clean white border around the full composition — straight-cut edges, no deckle.
About Ai Weiwei — Subject Context
Ai Weiwei (born 1957, Beijing) is one of the most significant and politically consequential artists of the 21st century. The son of the exiled poet Ai Qing, he lived in New York from 1981 to 1993, moving in circles that included Allen Ginsberg and absorbing the legacy of Marcel Duchamp and Andy Warhol before returning to China to launch an artistic career that placed him in direct confrontation with the Chinese state. His works have entered the collections of the Tate Modern, MoMA, the Guggenheim, and major institutions worldwide.
In 2009, Ai Weiwei traveled to Chengdu to testify in support of parents whose children had died in the Sichuan earthquake — deaths linked to shoddily constructed “tofu construction” government school buildings. He was assaulted by plainclothes police officers. The injuries to his head required emergency surgery months later in Munich when a brain hemorrhage was discovered. In 2011, Chinese authorities detained him for 81 days without charge. His passport was seized and not returned until 2015. This is the backdrop against which Fairey made this print. The portrait’s scars are not abstract: they are documented injuries from a documented act of state violence.
About Shepard Fairey (OBEY) — 2014 Context
By 2014, Fairey was one of the most collected street artists in the world. His 2008 Obama HOPE poster had entered the Smithsonian Institution and the National Portrait Gallery. His work was held by MoMA, LACMA, the Victoria and Albert Museum, and the Brooklyn Museum. The Cost of Expression print belongs to his mature political period — after his global recognition was fully established — in which he used that platform to amplify voices at risk. Other subjects from this era include Leonard Peltier and various environmental activists.
The Ai Weiwei print represents Fairey at his most technically refined. The four-color Speckletone screen print, with its gradient halftone field and fine-line facial detail, demonstrates the full capability of his studio’s production process. It is among the most technically complex prints from this period of his output.
What Is Included
Original Shepard Fairey Ai Weiwei — Cost of Expression screen print, 2014
Hand-signed and numbered in pencil by Shepard Fairey (confirm placement and edition number before listing)
Edition of 375 — one of only ~275 available to private collectors (100 donated to Brooklyn Museum at release)
4-color screen print on cream Speckletone — unframed, stored flat
Gauntlet Gallery digital provenance documentation
Shipping & Handling
Professional packing. Full insurance. UPS delivery.
Shipped via UPS in a rigid flat-pack mailer with acid-free tissue interleaving, cardboard backing boards, and foam corner protection. Full insurance included. Tracking provided on all orders.
Domestic (USA): UPS Ground or UPS 2-Day — typically 3–7 business days. International: UPS International — message us for a quote before purchasing. International buyers are responsible for local duties and VAT.
18 × 24 prints are packed with rigid backing front and back, no rolling. Zero damage record.
More Shepard Fairey at Gauntlet Gallery
We carry authenticated Shepard Fairey prints across all eras — early-2000s limited editions, political portraits, the Damaged Stencil Series, letterpress works, music tributes, and environmental prints. We also stock Banksy, Death NYC, and signed music collectibles. Add us to your Saved Sellers to be notified when new inventory is listed.
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Originally an art gallery in San Francisco, Gauntlet Gauntlet was built at the intersection of street culture, historic moments, and disciplined collecting. Rooted in the ethos of underground art movements — skate, punk, protest graphics, and independent publishing — we curate pieces that carry both cultural weight and market structure. This time bringing these items to the world after our technical in reinvention.
Our focus spans limited edition fine art, street art pioneers, music and space memorabilia, and historically significant signed works. Every item is selected for scarcity, authenticity, and long-term relevance — not short-term hype.
From museum-collected artists and politically iconic prints to astronaut autographs and era-defining music signatures, Global Gauntlet exists to preserve cultural milestones and help collectors acquire them with confidence.
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Every artist has a story. Every fan has a memory.
This isn’t just a guitar — it’s a bridge between the artist’s world and yours. Each piece in this collection has been subtly customized to reflect the unique aesthetic of the artist it represents — from tonal choices and finish details to design elements that echo their signature style and creative identity.
Whether it’s the raw energy of a punk icon, the soulful elegance of a blues legend, or the bold experimentation of a modern visionary, these guitars capture something words alone can’t — thefeelingof the music that moved you.
What makes this piece special:
🎨Artist-Inspired Customization— Design elements tailored to reflect the artist’s visual and musical identity
✍️Authentic Connection— Each guitar tells a story that resonates with the fans who lived it
🔍Curated with Care— Selected and verified by Gauntlet Gallery, specialists in authenticated music collectibles
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ARTIST HIGHLIGHT
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SHEPARD FAIREY
Few contemporary artists have bridged underground culture and institutional recognition as effectively as Shepard Fairey. Emerging from skate and punk subcultures with the original Obey Giant campaign, he built a visual language rooted in propaganda aesthetics, bold iconography, and political commentary.
What makes Fairey compelling for collectors isn’t just name recognition — it’s durability. His work sits at the intersection of activism, design, and pop culture.
From the globally recognized Hope poster to decades of tightly controlled screenprint editions, he has demonstrated both cultural relevance and disciplined market structure.
Institutional validation from MoMA, the Smithsonian, and the V&A reinforces long-term credibility. Meanwhile, secondary market data shows consistent liquidity and steady appreciation across core prints.
For collectors, this is cultural equity with infrastructure behind it — not trend-driven volatility.
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