Obey the Cognac

Shepard Fairey has always occupied uncomfortable territory—the man who made the Obama "Hope" poster also built Obey Giant into a brand that runs entirely on the aesthetics of subversion. That tension between art-as-resistance and art-as-product was on full display when he came to Berlin in September 2014 to paint a mural for Hennessy, the only European stop on a world tour that also took him through Los Angeles, Johannesburg, New York, and Tokyo.

You could tie yourself in knots over whether street art painted at a brand’s request is still street art. Fairey doesn’t seem to lose much sleep over the question. When asked which platform he preferred, he acknowledged that each format has its specific requirements, while still appreciating the mutual fertilization of the respective audiences. He prefers working outdoors. He loves the freedom it allows, and the way street art engages people where they don’t normally encounter art. It’s hard to argue with a mural you stumble across in the street—the transaction is different than stepping into a gallery, and Fairey knows it.

Berlin in September is a specific kind of beautiful—the light starting to turn golden, still warm enough to be outside until late. A wall being covered by one of the most recognizable graphic hands in contemporary art, funded by one of the oldest cognac houses in France. There are worse collisions. That evening Fairey DJed, which is either the natural extension of a certain kind of cultural omnivore or further proof that the man refuses to be cornered by anyone’s definition of what he should be doing. Probably both.