Found via C-Monster.net, which linked to this blog post: “Most well known for his “Obey Giant” street posters, Shepard Fairey has carefully nurtured a reputation as a heroic guerilla street artist waging a one man campaign against the corporate powers-that-be. Infantile posturing aside, Fairey’s art is problematic for another, more troubling reason - that of plagiarism.” (story; emphasis in the original). The plagiarism claim is hardly new (and Fairey is not the only such case), but unlike many other articles, Obey Plagiarist Shepard Fairey (can you tell how giddy the author must have been after finding that caption?) provides many examples. Of course, in the end you can still disagree with the claim that Shepard Fairey is plagiarizing, but at least you got something to chew on.

(Updated - twice - below)

Given the occasional emails I get - where people assume that I agree with everything I link to - I should probably point out that I also link to articles that I disagree with. In fact, my criterion for linking to articles is not whether it’s something I agree with, but rather whether it’s something I enjoyed thinking about. In this particular case, my personal jury is still out btw.

Update (5 Feb 2009): At the bottom of the article discussed above there are links to other interesting pieces - don’t miss those. Also, there’s another scathing review over at Tomorrow Museum. And there are some discussions about who should get the credit for the Obama poster. Plus, James Danziger (whose current show includes the image in question) weighs in. Also check out this post.

Update (6 Feb 2009): Another must-read article.