The LA Times reports that street artist Shepard Fairey has been sentenced to two years of probation and a $2,000 fine after pleading guilty to three counts of vandalism in Boston. As part of a plea agreement, prosecutors agreed to drop eleven other related charges. It’s fascinating how a precise balance of institutional rejection (graffiti, the po-po, the courts) and institutional acceptance (his work being hung in the National Portrait Gallery, speaking on NPR, university lectures) has granted him celebrity status above and beyond the art world.
In related legal news, the lawsuit and counter-suit between the artist and the Associated Press is still a-brewin’. Once online gambling is legalized again in the U.S., come back here for true odds on this case. With J.D. Salinger winning his recent case, I’d say just about anything is possible. (Click here for the latest dramatic twist in this case from the AM Law Daily)
The above screenprint, co-created by Fairey, is from an edition of 300 and being offered in Artnet’s urban art sale currently underway. Look for his trademark Andre the Giant imagery in the eyes of the skull.
