Shepard Fairey vs The AP-- what is the fight really about?

Shepard Fairey vs The AP-- what is the fight really about?


Anyone familiar with the myartspace blog knows that I have issue with some of the opinions of Shepard Fairey concerning copyright and appropriation-- to the point that my opinions on the matter have been quotes by the Boston Globe and other news sources. I’m not going to go into detail about the Fairey vs. AP case because it has been covered before on this blog and the information is fairly easy to find with a mere Google search. However, I will make it clear that I do not think that-- as Fairey suggests-- his stance concerning the AP is one of “fighting” the good fight to “ protect the rights of all artists”-- as mentioned on his Obey website, http://www.obeygiant.com/

Is Art the Only Statement an Artist Needs?

Is Art the Only Statement an Artist Needs?

Within minutes of posting “Artist Statements say Nothing when Plagiarism is Involved” I received some criticism on Facebook. The artist-- who asked to remain anonymous for this article-- stated that the artwork itself is the only statement that an artist needs. He went on to say that various forms of art writing by artists should not reflect more than the artwork itself. The artist went on to suggest that other forms of art writing, such as exhibit reviews and the opinion of art critics, are “point blank useless”. It was clear that this individual is of the opinion that artists should only speak visually-- and that art writing only serves as a means of mental masturbation, so to speak. I’d say that art writing-- at least some of it-- is of “point blank” importance-- and that some of us love to get ‘off‘.

Artist Statements say Nothing when Plagiarism is Involved

Artist Statements say Nothing when Plagiarism is Involved:

Since my involvement with http://www.myartspace.com/ it is safe to say that I’ve viewed the artwork of thousands of artists-- probably more in the hundreds of thousands-- online. I can remember days when it was not uncommon for me to view the work of at least 300 artists on a routine daily basis-- a constant search for potential interviews. Needless to say, I've viewed a lot of artwork and have read many artist statements as Senior Editor. Thus, I have learned to key in on potential problems concerning the statements of artists and the manner in which they gain exposure online.