Universal Personhood

One of Shepard's most famous portrait prints!

Dimensions: 24 x 18 Inches

Medium: Screen print on thick cream Speckletone paper.

Provenance: Hand-signed, numbered, and dated by the artist. Comes with gallery certificate of authenticity.

Edition: Limited Edition of 450 (#41/450)

Year: 2013

Condition: Excellent

ABOUT THE ART

"The goal of the Universal Personhood poster is to promote peace, equality, and humanity. The title “Universal Personhood” is inspired by the fact that many Arab countries have traditionally discriminated against women, but have progressed to acknowledge women as having “equal personhood”. Most Arab countries now allow women to vote, a right not secured by women in the U.S. until 1920. Discrimination against women is not isolated to the Arab nations and the whole world could use a reminder that women have equal personhood. However, I titled the poster Universal Personhood to add another layer to the message. The western world has an irrational fear of Arabs, especially Muslims and when Arab civilians are killed their lives don’t seem to be given the same value as westerner’s lives. This attitude enables systematic discrimination. I find the notion appalling that all Arabs and Muslims are treated as inferiors and enemies because a minuscule number of Muslim extremists have committed acts of terror. By that same logic, Arabs should consider all American’s enemies because of the Arab civilian casualties in wars and drone strikes. As we all know, the extreme acts of the U.S. government do not reflect the desires or ethics of all Americans. I’d like to see a very basic assumption that ALL people deserve respect and human dignity. Let’s look at everyone as having the basic status of “Universal Personhood” and let them only be judged by their individual actions rather than generalized prejudice.⁠"

– Shepard Fairey

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Frank Shepard Fairey (born February 15, 1970) is an American contemporary graphic designer, and illustrator who emerged from the skateboarding scene. He first became known for his "Andre the Giant Has a Posse" (…OBEY…) sticker campaign, in which he appropriated images from the comedic supermarket tabloid Weekly World News. His work became more widely known in the 2008 U.S. presidential election, specifically his Barack Obama "Hope" poster.

The Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston calls him one of today's best known and most influential street artists. His work is included in the collections at The Smithsonian, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.