Fresh off the heels of his pro-voting posters this spring, Shepard Fairey has dropped his first presidential artwork in over a decade. Original editions of the L.A.-based street artist’s HOPE poster, an enduring icon of Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign, remain his priciest pieces to date. Now, however, Fairey is proclaiming FORWARD with his Kamala Harris poster, drawing on Harris’s slogan and the newfound Democratic Party rallying cry, “We are not going back,” which Harris has reiterated on campaign stops from Arizona to Wisconsin.
“These words from Kamala Harris summarize the moment we are in, and in order not to go back, we must go FORWARD!” Fairey explained in a statement. “While we have not achieved all the goals we might be seeking, we are making progress—all in the face of expanding threats and regressive political adversaries.” That announcement also offers Fairey’s formal endorsement for Harris and her vice presidential pick, Tim Walz.
Democratic presidential candidate and U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris in Michigan, 2024. Photo: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images.
While FORWARD features makeup, jewelry, and an airier color palette than Fairey’s HOPE poster, the composition echoes its predecessor. The nominees’ logos and the artworks’ titles appear on the bottoms of both the HOPE and FORWARD posters, which also present their central figures in singular, confident stances, outlined and shaded in Fairey’s distinct style.
“I looked through hundreds of official White House photos and found a couple of pictures which were combined as references for my illustration,” Fairey told Artnet News over email. “I took many liberties to enhance the feel of the portrait. I wanted the image to convey vision, grace, and warmth.”
In 2015, Fairey told Esquire he was disappointed with the concessions that Obama had made as president, particularly regarding drone strikes and surveillance. The following year, Fairey told CNN that Hillary Clinton wasn’t “inspiring enough” to warrant a poster—though he did release three pieces protesting Trump ahead of his inauguration. And while Fairey released a poster in partnership with Greenpeace entreating Joe Biden to care for the environment during his first week in office, Fairey didn’t drop any artwork endorsing Biden during his bid.
Shepard Fairey at the Institute of Contemporary Art, with the Obama “Hope” artwork, 2008. Photo: David L Ryan/The Boston Globe via Getty Images.
“Joe was and is well established with a career of over 50 years,” Fairey said. “I did not think he needed to be re-introduced visually. I’m a big fan of Joe Biden’s character and service.”
In 2009, Fairey sparred with the Associated Press regarding whether he’d had the right to reproduce the photo in Obama’s HOPE poster. Fairey wasn’t been paid for the project, but he did, of course, sell prints “to fund producing thousands of stickers and posters to be given away free,” he explained over email. In 2012, Fairey was fined $25,000 and sentenced to two years probation. Last week’s announcement credits a reference photo by Lawrence Jackson, confirms Fairey wasn’t paid for this project, and encourages supporters to download the new poster for free.
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