Shepard Fairey Chinese Banner Letterpress 2014 Obey Giant Signed Print
Edition of /80|10" x 13"
About the work
About This Piece
Shepard Fairey / OBEY Giant
“Chinese Banner” Letterpress
Signed & Numbered • Edition of 400 • 2014
10″ × 13″ • 1-Color Letterpress on 100% Cotton Lettre Paper, 110# with Deckled Edges
Hand-Signed and Numbered in Pencil by Shepard Fairey • OBEY Publishing Chop
Letterpress Reissue of Original 2001 Screen Print Design • Sold Out
What You Are Getting
This is “Chinese Banner Letterpress” — a 1-color letterpress print by Shepard Fairey, 10″ × 13″ on 100% cotton Lettre paper (110#) with deckled edges. Hand-signed and numbered in pencil. Edition of 400. OBEY publishing chop on left corner. Unframed.
Released October 16, 2014 through the Obey Giant store at $60. Limit 1 per household. Sold out.
Print Details
Artist Shepard Fairey / OBEY Giant Title “Chinese Banner” Letterpress Year 2014 (letterpress edition; original screen print design dates to 2001) Medium 1-color letterpress on 100% cotton Lettre paper, 110# with deckled edges⚠ This is a letterpress, not a screen print. See technical note below. Size 10″ × 13″ (approximately 25 × 33 cm) Edition Signed and numbered edition of 400 (see photos for edition number) Signature Hand-signed and numbered in pencil by Shepard Fairey Authentication OBEY publishing chop, lower left corner Release October 16, 2014 — $60 retail. Limit 1 per household. Sold out. Framing Unframed (described as “frame ready” by Obey Giant) Condition Excellent. See photos for full details.
The Design: From 2001 Screen Print to 2014 Letterpress
“Chinese Banner” is one of Fairey’s early catalog designs, originally released as an 18″ × 24″ screen print in 2001 in a signed edition of just 200. The image draws directly from Chinese Communist propaganda poster aesthetics — monumental architecture rendered in the heroic scale and flattened graphic language that characterized mid-century state-produced imagery from the People’s Republic.
This visual language was foundational to Fairey’s development. Alongside Soviet Constructivism and commercial advertising, Chinese propaganda posters provided the visual grammar that would define the OBEY Giant project: bold graphic reduction, centralized compositions, the appropriation of authoritarian aesthetics to question how visual power operates on an audience. “Chinese Banner” is a direct engagement with that source material — not a commentary about China, but an exploration of how propaganda design itself communicates authority through form.
The design was significant enough to revisit across multiple formats. In addition to the 2001 original, Fairey produced “China Banner 2” as a screen print in 2004 (edition of 300), a “Chinese Banner on Wood” fine art piece, and a collaboration with artist Dalek based on the same imagery. This 2014 letterpress edition brought the design back in a new medium 13 years after its debut — indicating the image’s lasting place in Fairey’s visual canon.
Why Letterpress Matters
This is a letterpress, not a screen print. The distinction is significant for collectors. In letterpress printing, a raised plate is inked and pressed directly into the paper, creating a tactile debossed impression you can feel with your fingertips. The ink sits within the paper rather than on top of it. This gives letterpress editions a physical presence that flat-printed media cannot replicate.
The paper itself is part of the experience: 100% cotton Lettre paper at 110# weight with natural deckled edges — the uneven, feathered borders created during the papermaking process. Each sheet has individual character. The heavy cotton stock absorbs the letterpress impression differently than commercial paper, producing a distinctly warm, organic quality.
Fairey’s letterpress editions occupy a specific tier in his print catalog: 10″ × 13″, smaller and more intimate than his standard 18″ × 24″ screen prints, with the emphasis shifted from graphic impact to material craftsmanship. They reward close viewing — you notice the impression depth, the cotton fiber texture, the ink-to-paper relationship that disappears in reproduction photographs. The format is deliberately collectible: frame-ready, archival-quality cotton paper, and smaller editions that tend to hold or appreciate in value.
Edition History
Version Year Medium Edition “Chinese Banner” 2001 Screen print, 18″ × 24″ 200 “China Banner 2” 2004 Screen print, 24″ × 18″ 300 “Chinese Banner” Letterpress ◄ this print 2014 1-color letterpress, 10″ × 13″ 400The 2001 original was released during the early expansion of the OBEY Giant project, when Fairey was first establishing the print catalog that would grow into one of the most collected bodies of work in contemporary street art. With an edition of just 200, original “Chinese Banner” screen prints are rare. This 2014 letterpress edition made the design accessible in a new format while offering something the original could not: the physical impression of letterpress on archival cotton paper.
What Is Included
- “Chinese Banner” letterpress — 10″ × 13″ on 100% cotton Lettre paper (110#) with deckled edges
- Hand-signed and numbered in pencil by Shepard Fairey
- OBEY publishing chop, lower left corner
Shipping
This print ships flat with protective materials. Tracking included, fully insured.
Also available from our store: We carry a growing collection of Shepard Fairey signed limited edition screen prints, letterpress editions, and signed offset posters spanning his environmental, political, and music portrait work. Search “Gauntlet Gallery” on eBay to browse the full selection.GAUNTLET GALLERY
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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.
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