Best known as the designer of the Barack Obama ‘Hope’ poster, created for the 2008 presidential campaign, American street artist and illustrator Shepard Fairey is one of the most influential artists of his generation. Fairey honed his skills in the skateboarding scene of the late 1980s before bringing his distinctive style to the walls of some of the world’s premier art museums.

Although he is considered one of the coolest and most current artists working today, Fairey’s illustrations also keep alive the aesthetics of the Cold War. In particular the artist fuses contemporary street style with the iconography of state propaganda posters, while also making strong reference to Russian constructivist design, art nouveau and pop art. His series of works on the themes of Obey (Propaganda) and Make Art Not War further subvert the discredited rhetoric of Soviet, American and Chinese propaganda from the Cold War era to support his own political activism.

While focusing on accusations of plagiarism in Fairey’s designs, an interesting article written in 2007 by Mark Vallen points out numerous examples where Fairey has appropriated Cold War imagery, recontextualising it for a post-Cold War audience.

Images: Shepard Fairey, Make Art Not War, 2004. Shepard Fairey, design for mural in Providence, Rhode Island, 2010. Courtesy AS220