Frank Shepard Fairey became known by the media for pasting his posters and stickers in various public places and public signs, and for the numerous arrests that now complete his criminal record.
Born in 1970 in Charleston, South Carolina, after graduating in 1988 at the Idyllwild School of Music and the Arts, he was admitted into prestigious School of Design, Rhode Island. There he got his B.F.A. (Bachelor of Fine Arts) in Illustration in 1992. It was during this time as a student when he was working on a skateboarding shop, and was introduced into the underground culture when he began to create his own designs printed on T-shirts.
The artistic nickname "Obey Giant" came up in a trivial way when a friend asked Fairey to teach him to create templates, for what he used a newspaper clipping that featured the fighter Andre The Giant. This template became a sticker and the beginning of Fairey's artistic career.
Committed to political and social change, Fairey donates a large portion of his income to charity and maintains a good number of artists as well paid assistants.
Fairey achieved worldwide fame in 2008 as the creator of the legendary "HOPE" poster, used for the campaign of the then-presidential candidate for the United States, Barack Obama.
