Shepard Fairey’s Smallest Canvas Yet

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Like fashion, street art looked far less glamorous when it started than it does today. Before the platform of social media and the switch in pop culture attitude from Renaissance to rebellion, the craft was confined to shrouded faces and the safety of when everyone went home and the lights turned off. As the mediums expanded, so did the movement itself, and eventually the tagged monikers plastered beneath their urban murals became indicative of the creative spirit that refuses to the follow the rules. In America, perhaps no other street artist is as famous as Frank “Shepard” Fairey, an illustrator and clothing designer whose bold works touches everything from to skater T-shirts to politics. The artist famously is inspired by interaction with the public, and his series of “Hope” posters that he created for Barack Obama’s 2008 candidacy has been called “the most efficacious American political illustration since ‘Uncle Sam Wants You.’” At Art Basel Miami Beach—the largest intersection between the public and the art world—Fairey spoke to CR MEN about his South Beach memories and his new artistic watch with Hublot.

I know, you’ve been coming to Miami’s Design Week for a few years now. What keeps you coming back?
“I’ve done tons of murals in Wynwood, Overtown, and the Design District. I think about six of them are still around; the walls are always changing. But I think it’s important to have a presence because the art world converges here it every December. Public art is my biggest passion. I consider myself a lot of different things, but putting art where it dramatically affects the landscape is probably the most exciting.”

How does a piece intended for the public change for you when you’re creating it for a city like Miami—where people aren’t walking around as much—as opposed to somewhere like New York?
“When I start a new work, I always take into consideration what’s going to make it stand out and from which context. When I first started, I was doing a lot in New York. I stenciled lamp bases. It’s hard to find real real estate for bigger pieces there, but I knew that if I put something in peoples’ line of sight they’d see it: stickers on crosswalks, posters on abandoned properties (well, where there were actually abandoned properties), and then of courses the lamp bases. In LA you have to go bigger, and in Miami you have to go even bigger than that. But if you look at a lot of my work—especially some of the newer things—there’s a balance of really bold iconic imagery with more subtle decorative elements, like wallpaper patterns and rips and different decorative motifs. I’m always hoping my works will both grab peoples’ attention with their bolder side but then keep them interested with some of the elements that have a little bit more depth. It’s tough to find the right balance, but I’d rather have someone spend some time with the work than it be the street art version of junk food.”

Speaking of your new work, tell me about your new collaboration with Hublot, the Big Bang Meca-10 Shepard Fairey timepiece?
“For my art, I really bold statements, but when it comes to watches I actually like more subdued things when it comes to watches. It’s a small canvas and I have my star gear, of course, but the mechanism is probably one of the most iconic things. And then there are all the subtle collage patterns within the dial and the bezel that are subtle but give the watch a unique character. The material—the texalium—is a translucent combination of aluminum and carbon is really amazing. And overall, it was just amazing finding a way to fit my work into a watch that matched my taste. Context is very important to me, and this did just that.”

You’re used to large-scale murals and large runs of graphic fashion pieces, what was it like on working something so small and precise?
“It was incredibly challenging, but when I see it I like how it makes you want to look at it closer. You almost need to take out a magnifying glass to really appreciate the details. I would love if someone took held this in front of their face and noticed all of the collage elements, the rips, the patterns—the things that appear in almost all of my fine art. But if they just saw it as a great texture and a unique presentation in a watch, that would be good enough, too. I’m a populist, and I want people to not feel intimidate by my art.”
Hublot’s Big Bang Meca–10 Shepard Fairey is available online now.

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