Street artist Obey says French far right 'hijacked' iconic image

NEWS WIRES

26 June 2024 at 2:37 am·2-min read

Having gained worldwide renown for his Barack Obama campaign poster, it was a shock for Shepard Fairey, better known by his tag Obey, to discover his work being used by the far right in France.

"It's so ridiculous it's hard for me to even believe," Fairey told AFP in Paris, where an exhibition of his work is running at the Itinerrance Gallery until July 15.

The 54-year-old American is one of the most famous street artists in the world, but is also a long-time social justice campaigner.

So he was unimpressed to discover that his image of Marianne, the symbol of the French republic, hangs in the office of Jordan Bardella, president of France's far-right National Rally -- the party leading in polls ahead of this weekend's fraught elections.

"My work's been hijacked for political purposes, but usually it's subverted in a way that makes sense," he said.

"The audacity to take an image that was about peace and compassion after a terror attack, and also embracing the French slogan, which is a beautiful slogan -- liberty, equality, fraternity... Right-wing people don't have those values."

Fairey created his version of Marianne on a red, white and blue background as a gesture of solidarity after the terrorist attacks of November 2015, initially as a mural in southern Paris.

Fairey will not take legal action against Bardella for the same reason he would not do so if former US president Donald Trump used one of his works.

(AFP)

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