"AMERICANA" - New works by Shepard Fairey
Perry Rubenstein Gallery (LA) presents a special project by Shepard
Fairey and Neil Young in celebration of the recent release of Young’s
new album with Crazy Horse, “Americana", which features reinterpreted
classic, American, folk songs. Fairey has created eleven new paintings,
each one inspired by the songs, such as Oh Susannah, This Land Is Your
Land and Clementine. The new Shepard Fairey paintings were on view starting August
25th to September 7th, 2012. In addition, Shepard released a limited quantity release of the
Americana Print Edition Box Set, which sold out very qucik at the opening on August 25th. The Box Set will include a collection of screen
print versions of all the new paintings. In addition, individual prints of this box set are being released exclusively on the ObeyGiant website at undetermined dates.
Each of the new paintings resonate powerful messages presented in
the songs, some depicting a hopeful outlook on the pursuit of a better
tomorrow, while others reflect the hardships that come in trying to
achieve that dream. One painting related to Clementine, which captures
the words of a mourning lover whose “darling,” the daughter of a
California Gold Rush miner, drowned. Here she is represented by the
levitating body of a young woman draped in white, with the text “And
Gone.” Another painting is related to the 1848 minstrel song Oh Susannah
that features a dungaree-wearing banjo player with the text “DON’T YOU
CRY FOR ME.” Other works feature a wanted poster, an iconic
image of Queen Elizabeth embroidering an American flag (God Save the
Queen); and, a lonely tree, stripped bare of its leaves, in a desolate
landscape.
Below are selected shots from the opening on Aug. 25th, 2012
"This Land is Your Land"
"Going" & "Gone"
For Young and Crazy Horse’s rendition of the famous 1940 Woody Guthrie
song known to every school-aged child in America, This Land Is Your
Land, written in response to Irving Berlin’s God Bless America, Fairey
has depicted the hopeful face of a youth, set against a dramatic Western
Landscape. Three rows of sharp, barbed wire cross the boy’s path with
the text “NO TRESSPASSING / THIS LAND IS MY LAND.” The text is derived
from a variant verse Guthrie added as a social commentary during a 1944
recording session. Fairey’s paintings are mixed media on canvas,
including techniques such as stenciling, collage, and screen-printing.
All of the paintings measure closely to the 30 x 44 inch dimension,
which is one of Fairey’s standard choices of size. “Americana” is Neil
Young with Crazy Horse’s first album together in nine years and is being
released on June 5 on Reprise Records.
To learn more about Shepard Fairey, OBEY, his art and upcoming shows, please visit:
For upcoming exhibitions and shows at the Perry Rubenstein Gallery, please visit:
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