Shepard Fairey "REVOLUTIONS" Exhibition @ Robert Berman Gallery

Shepard Fairey’s most recent art exhibition “REVOLUTIONS” took place at the Robert Berman Gallery with an opening this past Saturday, March 12. The exhibition revolves around over 80 pieces of artwork from multiple music genres in a 12-inch record cover format. The musical covers span punk, rock, new wave, jazz and hip-hop inspirations of the past with a full representation of the exhibition’s context seen below with a passage by Shepard Fairey himself. The exhibition will run until April 23, 2011.

“Long before I knew about art galleries or even street art, I was excited about album cover art, if only because it was the visual counterpart to the music on the records I loved. Album covers conjured a euphoric association with the listening experience. Most of my earliest home-made tee shirts were stencils based on punk album covers. I’ve had some very moving encounters with art in my life, especially in the street, but almost nothing can compare with the first time I heard the boots marching and first chord of the Sex Pistols’ Holidays in the Sun, or the air raid sirens leading into “too black, too strong” on the intro to Public Enemy’s It Takes A Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, or the opening guitar scream of Black Flag’s Rise Above. Those songs did, and still do, make my arm hairs stand up. Music is visceral and accessible, but also has the additional powerful layers of the lyrics, with their content and politics, and the style,politics, and personalities of the musicians themselves. No matter how much I love art, or try to convince myself of its relevance in society, the fact remains that music is a lot cooler and way more able to reach people’s hearts and minds… but I’m a populist and I look at this way: I may not play an instrument, but I’m gonna rock it hard as nails anyway. With my art I try to capture the same energy and spirit that makes music so powerful and democratic. REVOLUTIONS is a celebration of all the great music and accompanying art that has inspired me over the years.” – Shepard Fairey

Robert Berman Gallery
525 Michigan Ave. #C2
Santa Monica, CA 90404-4042
United States
p: 310.315.9506

Photography: Brandon Shigeta