Arrest

At the LIVE from the NYPL Sold-Out event on Thursday, February 26th, the artist Shepard Fairey will be in conversation with Lawrence Lessig and Steven Johnson about Remix: Making Art and Commerce Thrive in the Hybrid Economy. He'll speak specifically about his extensive body of work and share highlights of his collection with the audience.
Fairey, known for his influential street art and strong political messages, has been drawing even more attention recently for frequenting the headlines. The core of a swirling controversy is Fairey's battle with the Associated Press over the AP's claims of copyright infringement connected to Fairey's iconic Obama image, of which Fairey immediately responded to with a countersuit. The dispute continues to garner reactions from the press, where every facet of interpretation seems to be covered. Writer Robert Pincus examines the issues with his piece, An artist turns a photo into an iconic image- but is it fair use? and the public is summoned to weigh in on the issues with their comments and arguments on Lawrence Lessig's blog.

Shepard Fairey's first retrospective exhibition, Supply and Demand opened on February 6, 2008 at The Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston. On the same day of his ICA kickoff, things for Fairey were stirred up with an arrest made by the Boston PD who presented him with warrants accusing him of tagging and graffiti. The art critic, Peter Schjeldal, wrote his response to the exhibition in the article "Hope and Glory" printed in the New Yorker this month.

Join in on the Fairey Frenzy by posting your comments here, on the LIVE from the NYPL blog. And, OBEY by making a Shepard Fairey portrait of YOURSELF.

REMIX re • mix
Pronunciation v. ree-miks; n. ree-miks
verb, -mixed, -mix ing, noun
–verb (used with object)
1. to mix again.
2. to mix and re-record the elements of
(a musical recording) in a different way.
–noun
3. a remixed recording.
Origin: 1660–70
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.