You Work For Them writes about Obey Giant and that he’s suing a copycat, interpreter or as they point out perhaps a “great artist”:
That damn song (Alanis Morissette) starts to play in my head now. But it seems ole Obey Giant (Shepard Fairey) has filed a complaint with this guy (I have never heard of until now) Baxter Orr for copying his work…Ironic? Karma? Or maybe this Baxter kid should get his own ideas? However you may see it, Fairey’s request just gave this kid a name (or 15 minutes) in the design-pseudo art world. This brings a new second level twist on Picasso’s “Good artists copy, great artists steal.” What do you think, we would love to hear…
It’s the same thing with Banksy, as his work sells for millions at auction houses around the world (London and New York), the authenticity issue is evident, street artists are now as far from the street as Ice Cube and 50 cent, only the artists that express themselves with street art here threatens to sue the followers. Banksy never sold out, he still depicts whatever he thinks of consumer society but Obey Giant?!, his first choice to actively engage in a real political debate showed of a desperate need for attention, and if he sues Baxter Orr, he will be remembered as the artist who “sued the streets.”
Barack Obama as the reviver of old school, propagandistic Rhetoric (by attacking Rhetoric) will be dealt with later.
Update: Obey has created two new book covers for George Orwell’s classics Animal Farm and 1984 for Penguin. I hope he keeps his hands of Down and out in Paris and London.