Andre the Giant has a Posse
Burbank, CA (PRWEB) January 6, 2006
Wax Poetic Gallery is celebrating its six year anniversary with a solo exhibition by mixed media artist Shepard Fairey. The show will run January 21 through March 31 with an opening reception Saturday January 21, 2006 from 8pm to 11 pm – refreshments will be served.
Fairey’s career started accidentally in 1989 while attending Rhode Island’s School of Design. For fun, he created a black and white sticker of wrestler Andre the Giant with the words “Andre the Giant has a Posse”, and began plastering the city of Providence with them. People in the community took notice of the mysterious stickers and argued their meaning. Some thought it was the name of a band, others thought it was a skate board company, still others thought it was some kind of a cult. Finding this quite amusing, Fairey enlisted his friends to sticker other cities.
Over the next couple of years, Fairey refined the Andre image, took away the phrase “Andre the Giant has a Posse” and replaced it with “Obey” and with the help of his growing fan base, spread the Obey Giant message across the United States and the world in the form of stickers, spray painted stencils and full size posters.
Fairey has been written up in over 100 publications including: NY Times Magazine, Wired, GQ, Details, Inc, Salon and the Los Angeles Times Magazine. Fairey’s Obey Giant Empire includes Studio Number One (a graphics and design firm), Swindle Publications, Subliminal Projects Gallery, and Obey Clothing. Wax Poetic Gallery is thrilled to have the art of Shepard Fairey and is turning the gallery into an Obey store featuring Obey clothing, prints, patches, pins, stickers and books. Fairey will be at the opening to sign copies of his books Post No Bills and LA BASE.
Background on Wax Poetic
Wax Poetic opened its doors as a small boutique salon in January 2000 and has tripled in size to encompass three businesses in its 3000 square foot location. On the premises is a full service salon, day spa, art gallery & elixir bar. Wax Poetic is located in Burbank’s historic Magnolia Park shopping district at 3208 W. Magnolia Blvd. To learn more about Wax Poetic’s wide range of salon and spa services go to: http://www.waxpoeticsalon.com or call 818-843-9469
Contact:
Kerry Nicole / Christopher Hall
323-533-4423 / 949-645-1223
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