Artist Statement
“Motivated by his long-held interests in using art to encourage critical awareness and dissent, in this print the artist co-opts the aesthetic of currency and popular tropes of the middle class to render a dystopian view of the American family. Created during the second term of the George W. Bush presidency, this print questions the increasingly skewed national values of this country and the role of money in furthering that condition. With a deliberately vintage design, a couple cradles a bomb as if their child. Their loving and optimistic display, however, is surrounded by verbal puns that un
About This Print
Proud Parents is a 2019 large-format screen print by Shepard Fairey, published by Obey Giant in a signed, numbered edition of 89 measuring 30 x 41 inches on Coventry Rag 100% cotton archival paper with hand-deckled edges. The image co-opts the aesthetic of paper currency in a deliberately vintage design: a smiling couple cradles a bomb as if it were their child, the loving tableau surrounded by verbal puns that undermine their optimism. Fairey uses the imagery of the middle-class American family to render a dystopian commentary on skewed national values and the role of money and military spending in shaping them.
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.