Shepard Fairey & Antonino D’Ambrosio Interview on GRITtv

Shepard Fairey and Antonino D’Ambrosio were recently featured on GRITtv, speaking of the influence behind Shepard’s latest exhibition, May Day. The show is currently open at New York City’s Deitch Projects, running through May 29th, 2010. A bit of insight from GRITtv is offered below.

May Day is observed in most countries outside of the U.S. as International Worker’s Day or Labor Day. The word “mayday” is also a distress signal, a call for help and a call to action. Shepard Fairey, a longtime underground and street artist who came to be a household name with his “Hope” poster of Barack Obama, evoked both of these meanings at once with his “May Day” exhibition at Deitch Projects in New York City. Fairey’s prints take on an array of political issues and celebrate icons from rock’n’roll, sports, and politics; from Woody Guthrie to Joe Strummer, Muhammad Ali to Aung San Suu Kyi. His friend and frequent collaborator, writer and filmmaker Antonino D’Ambrosio, wrote an essay to accompany the exhibition.