Shepard Fairey

Shepard Fairey
Shepard Fairey is the February 2009 Digital Color Artist of the Month. Frank Shepard Fairey (born 15 February 1970 in Charleston, South Carolina) emerged from the skateboarding scene. He became known initially for his "André the Giant Has a Posse" sticker campaign. The Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston calls him one of today's best known and most influential street artists. He usually omits his first name.

Fairey created a series of posters supporting Barack Obama's candidacy for President in 2008, including the iconic "HOPE" portrait. Fairey distributed a staggering 300,000 stickers and 500,000 posters during the election campaign, funding his grassroots electioneering through poster and fine art sales. "I just put all that money back into making more stuff, so I didn't keep any of the Obama money," said Fariey in a December 2008 interview.

Fairey created the portrait of Barack Obama that TIME Magazine used as the cover art for its 2008 Person of the Year edition issue. His influence, particularly with Obama's presidential campaign, contributed to him being named a Person of the Year 2008 by GQ Magazine. In January 2009, the 'HOPE' image was acquired by the US National Portrait Gallery, and became part of the permanent collection. It was unveiled and put on display at the Gallery on January 17, 2009. http://RenownedArt.com/prints.php?a=Shepard+Fairey

Burning Man Art Grants
The deadline for submitting an art grant proposal for Burning Man 2009 is February 1. Every year Burning Man issues a small number of grants for the purpose of partially funding specific art projects. These grants are awarded primarily for interactive art that is based on the annual art theme In 2009 it is Evolution. http://www.BurningMan.com/installations/art_guidelines.html

New Contemporary Artists and Galleries
The following artists registered in the last month. To view the work of an artist enter the artist's name at http://DigitalConsciousness.com To see these most recent artists go to http://DigitalConsciousness.com/new/

1. Jesus Orendain. Nudes, flora, landscapes, texture and the subconscious.
2. Laura Knight. Handcut steel for catching the light.
3. Shane Crotty. Abstract imagery from Ireland.
4. Slava Deryuga. American landscape photography.
5. Sangeeta Pathak. Drawings of faces in conflict, from India.
6. Steve Fielding. Pen and ink portraits from England.
7. Ramesh Aanadh. Watercolors from India.

Gilbert Abric
Gilbert Abric has added a new gallery: http://digitalconsciousness.com/galleries/ABRICGilbert/Monuments.phtml

Artistic Interaction
Digital Consciousness promotes interaction between artists. Everyone is invited to join the Facebook Digital Consciousness Artists Group http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=38563776510 Both our forum ( http://DigitalConsciousness.net/forum/ ) and the facebook group are great places to post, or read about, new artwork or gallery exhibits or shows. Additionally, an art calendar listing Southern California Art Walks, Open Studio Tours, & Art Festivals can be found at: http://DigitalConsciousness.net/directory/artcalendar.php

Ad-free Galleries With No Commission
Artists with Digital Consciousness Gallery Service can create and edit on-line galleries from a control panel. These galleries contain no ads and are among the most prominent pages on Digital Consciousness. Artists may sell artwork from their galleries free of commission. Gallery Service requires registration and $30 a year. Registration is free and registered artists may create an Artist Page without purchasing Gallery Service. Registered Artists can use the Edit link at the bottom of their Artist Page to edit their Artist Page or to upgrade to Gallery Service.