Artist Statement
“SUIT RED Screen Print 18 x 24 inches Edition of 100 This image came from a photograph I took in San Francisco. There was a paste-up of a guy in a suit holding a sign, and I pasted one of my 11 x 17? Obey posters over the sign. Someone had already scratched the head of the businessman, which was interesting because I noticed a lot of the Obey images I put up would be scratched immediately. I guess people don’t like to be told to obey, so they react by scratching out the image. In the case of this businessman, someone apparently didn’t like whatever he represented so they scratched him out. I t
About This Print
Suit (Red) is a 1999 Shepard Fairey screen print, published by Obey Giant as a first edition of 100, measuring 18 x 24 inches, issued in a red colorway. The image derives from a photograph Fairey took in San Francisco of a paste-up of a suited man holding a sign, over which he pasted one of his Obey posters; the businessman's head had already been scratched out. The work combines a faceless figure of corporate authority with the Obey identity, exploring how power propagates through images whose true source remains unseen. It is a hand-pulled screen print engaging consumerism, power, and Obey iconography.
Market Context
No recorded public sales >= $100 - pieces like this are typically held long-term by investors/collectors, were destroyed or consumed, or do not surface on the open market.