Politics | July 10, 2009 | 25 comments

Shepard Fairey sentenced to two years probation

source: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/2009/07/shepard-fairey-sentenced-to-two-years...

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Apocalipstick
The legal adventures of Shepard Fairey came to a head today when the L.A. street artist received a sentence of two years probation from a Boston court as part of a plea arrangement with prosecutors.

Fairey agreed to plead guilty to three vandalism charges in exchange for the prosecutors dropping 11 other charges. The artist pleaded guilty to one charge of defacing property and two charges of "wanton destruction of property" valued at under $250.

The judge also ordered Fairey to pay $2,000 to a graffiti removal organization and said that the artist cannot possess tagging materials except for legal art installations.

Fairey, 39, issued a public apology to the citizens of Boston for "posting my art in unauthorized spaces without the consent of the owner." He also said in a statement that "I believe in the importance of making art accessible through many avenues, and I will continue to advocate the use of legal public spaces for meaningful artistic expression and communication."

In February, Fairey was arrested while he was in Boston for a solo exhibition at the Institute of Contemporary Art. He was later charged with close to 30 vandalism-related crimes, of which prosecutors agreed to drop more than a dozen in June. Today's sentencing means that Fairey faces no more charges in the state of Massachusetts.

But the artist's legal troubles are far from over. In an unrelated set of cases, Fairey and the Associated Press have sued each other over the use of a photo of Barack Obama that served as the inspiration for Fairey's popular "Hope" poster during the 2008 presidential election.
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25 comments // Shepard Fairey sentenced to two years probation

  • bailey78
  • onthebuzz
  • dabne
    • 0
      dabne  

    • He could always move to Cuba, Venezuela, Iran, or North Korea where they worship and love huge murals of their dictators.

      This asshole deserves what he got. This shit about posterizing Barack all over the country is so un-American and to be honest is embarrassing.

      The people run this country, or at least used to, not Barack with his fucking murals all over the fucking place.

    • 3 years ago
  • artemis6
  • highproof
  • milc
  • highproof
  • cztheday
    • 0
      cztheday  

    • One of the most wonderful things about Art is the degree to which it is "good" or "bad" is such a subjective judgment. A recent example that caught my attention was a book that ranked the 100 greatest movies of all time and devoted several large pages to describing each movie in some detail. One of the funniest aspects of the book was reading the initial reactions from critics, given that nearly all of the movies in the book had won numerous awards within a year of its release. Yet some of the critics just RIPPED the direction, acting, casting, screenplay, etc

      My point is that if this guy painted one of his "masterpieces" on the side of my house without my permission, I MIGHT be ok with that. But I can think of a couple dozen acclaimed painters whose works would NOT be welcome on or in my home. They may be great artists to some, but I simply don';t like their work.

      The point of the laws that make grafitti or any other kind of defacement illegal is that we as a society should not impose our tastes or the tastes of the artist/tagger on someone else and on their private property. This guy was not just wrong. He was TOTALLY wrong. And he knew it. And whether he is SINCERE in his expressions of sorry now, that is certainly the proper view. He had infinitely many places to display his work and chose instead to impose on the rights of others. He was lucky to get off as easily as he did.

      I certainly HOPE Obama does not pardon this guy. First, the matter is just too TRIVIAL to pardon -- all this guy has to do is report to his parole officer and stay out of trouble for a while...not exactly the most draconian requirements. Second, doing so would provide a terrible example. Suddenly, every two-bit street art hack in the country will be scrawling all over other people's property and then expecting a pardon if prosecuted.

    • 3 years ago
  • AswegoAsdego
    • 0
      AswegoAsdego  

    • Fairy is a sellout and a thief (not for the AP thing, i couldnt care less about that) (http://www.art-for-a-change.com/Obey/index.htm)

      he is not a artist nor a revolutionary figure as he claims to be, he is a hardened capitalist and a xerox machine. With workers who make much of his stuff for him.

      That being said, it is still bullshit being pulled by the Boston PD/Courts, this was set up from something that happened YEARS ago and they KNEW it was him, they only wanted to get him now to embarrass the mayor (who supported fairey) and because he became more mainstream famous.

    • 3 years ago
  • milc
  • SupaDawg
    • 0
      SupaDawg  
    • AswegoAsdego:

      I had no idea. Thanks for that.

      His re-works of photographs like the Obama ones are still works of art (as they were essentially new interpretive works based on source material, but some of that other stuff is insane. Some appears to be straight up copying.

    • 3 years ago
  • dzn_daniel
    • 0
      dzn_daniel  

    • man,i was sort of waiting for this,expecting it,but not hoping for it. I honestly though shepard sold out,and hired people to get his pasties up. Mad Respect,obmama should pardon him for this seriously.

      ts great art.fuck all the bullshit.

    • 3 years ago
  • spyder1
    • 0
      spyder1  

    • This is BS. Just fu**ing ridiculous. An artist turns a photograph from meaningless to iconic, and this is what he gets in return? We can post advertisements for alcohol and cigarettes- both of which have led to the early demise of too many in this country. But street art seems to continue being demonised more than both of them (at least in the mainstream). Graffiti is not a crime. This is ridiculous.

    • 3 years ago
  • captainprophesy
  • emarston
  • EmperorThan
  • milc
  • milc
    • 0
      milc  
    • Image

    • If you really want an investment tip, buy pictures of Mike Bancroft in front of Shephard Fairey's work in front the ica at the closing of his solo show in boston August 14-16 all proceeds will be invested into more prints of Mr. Bancroft in front of Mr. Fairey's art work and any additional profits donated to youth arts education.

      NEW CITY Jason Foumberg...
      "Mike believes that the recent fight over copyright and fair use, as embodied by the Shepherd Fairey versus the Associated Press legal battle, is important, but misunderstood by Fairey himself. As an artist who appropriates images, Fairey has gone on to sue other artists who borrow his own trademarks, notably Obey. As a parody, Mike will set up a lemonade stand outside Fairey’s museum retrospective in Boston, and sell touristy photographs of himself posing with Fairey’s art, as a way to sell Fairey’s art itself. Mike expects that police will get involved, but for him, it’s just a way to uphold his view that we’ve got to open ourselves up to get things done. "

    • 3 years ago
  • Apocalipstick
  • Apocalipstick
  • Nettle
    • 0
      Nettle  

    • Well I'm glad he plead guilty to the vandalism. As much as I respect graffiti and street art, they really are breaking the law and shouldn't be surprised when they get charged. At least he wasn't put in prison, though.

      As for the "Hope" picture, the Associated Press can kiss my round, bootylicious ass! If I paint a picture of Mt. Rushmore using a textbook photo for reference, should I really get sued? No, because it's art and Fairey didn't even make any money off of it. XP

    • 3 years ago
  • PoliticalGeek
    • 0
      PoliticalGeek  

    • I am from Boston and I am embarrassed that Boston Police arrested this world renowned, innovative artist on the way to his opening. Boston likes to think it is progressive but it is really so stuffy, it's suffocating!

      Fairey's exhibit is a MUST SEE! At the Boston ICA right now! His work is complex and beautiful and thought provoking.

      We are constantly barraged with images that are designed to get us to eat, drink, buy - CONSUME. These images are designed to get us to THINK.

    • 3 years ago
  • Wraak
    • 0
      Wraak  
    • PoliticalGeek:

      Here is the law in Massachusetts against graffiti:
      (after reading it, he sure got off easy!)

      PART IV. CRIMES, PUNISHMENTS AND PROCEEDINGSIN CRIMINAL CASES

      TITLE I. CRIMES AND PUNISHMENTS

      CHAPTER 266. CRIMES AGAINST PROPERTY

      Chapter 266: Section 126A. Defacement of real or personal property; penalties; suspension of driver’s license

      Section 126A. Whoever intentionally, willfully and maliciously or wantonly, paints, marks, scratches, etches or otherwise marks, injures, mars, defaces or destroys the real or personal property of another including but not limited to a wall, fence, building, sign, rock, monument, gravestone or tablet, shall be punished by imprisonment in a state prison for a term of not more than three years or by imprisonment in a house of correction for not more than two years or by a fine of not more than fifteen hundred dollars or not more than three times the value of the property so marked, injured, marred, defaced or destroyed, whichever is greater, or both imprisonment and fine, and shall also be required to pay for the removal or obliteration of such painting, marking, scratching or etching, or to remove or obliterate such painting, marking, scratching or etching; provided, however, that when a fine is levied pursuant to the value of the property marked, injured, marred, defaced or destroyed or when the cost of removal or obliteration is assessed, the court shall, after conviction, conduct an evidentiary hearing to ascertain the value of the property so marked, injured, marred, defaced or destroyed or to ascertain the cost of the removal or obliteration. A police officer may arrest any person for commission of the offenses prohibited by this section without a warrant if said police officer has probable cause to believe that said person has committed the offenses prohibited by this section.

      Upon conviction for said offense the individual’s driver’s license shall be suspended for one year. If the individual convicted of defacing or vandalizing the real or personal property of another is under the age of sixteen then one year shall be added to the minimum age eligibility for driving.

      - http://www.mass.gov/legis/laws/mgl/266-126a.htm

    • 3 years ago
  • aliandhisbooks
  • zoloftkid
    • 0
      zoloftkid  

    • The "Hope" thing is stupid. Screw copyright! When they actually make sense of it, then they can go around suing people....It was good art.

      But, if you use graffiti as art, then you take the risk of getting caught...and he got caught.

    • 3 years ago
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