When this post is written, the fifth of the Duality of Humanity series of images from artist Shepard Fairey is being released. Below you’ll find images of all of the prints released from this series, up to date, along with known images of fine art pieces from the series. Shepard Fairey sticks flowers in guns!

On 06/17 we will be releasing the 4th collaboration with legendary photographer Al Rockoff. This print is entitled Duality of Humanity 5 and is, of course, part of the DOH Series. The print is an edition of 450 and will be $50. Released at a Random Time, Limit 1 per Person/Household.

Barring the first, all of this series of prints have been done in collaboration with photographer Al Rockoff. What this means is that the source images for these prints, these reimaginations, are Al Rockoff photos.

Shepard was recently presented with the opportunity to illustrate some incredible photographs taken by photojournalist Al Rockoff. The images that were drawn to Shepard fit exactly with the current times and express same complex emotions many people felt during the Vietnam War and feel today with war in Iraq.

Al Rockoff’s photos reveal the brutality, but also the conflicted humanity seen in war. The risks Rockoff took to capture his images were often as great as the risks of the subjects he wished to document. I’m honored to be able to work with Al Rockoff.
- Shepard

We will be releasing a series of prints based on Rockoff’s images the first of which is entitled Duality of Humanity 2. This print will released this Saturday, 7/26, at a random time. We will not be announcing the release time.

Al Rockoff is an American photojournalist made famous by his coverage of the Vietnam War and of the Khmer Rouges’ takeover of Phnom Penh, Cambodia’s capital. He was also portrayed in the Academy Award winning film The Killing Fields, although he has never been happy with his portrayal.

The first gallery show in which these images were put on display besides in the street as graffiti and on the Obey Giant website as screenprint runs was also called “Duality of Humanity” and took place at White Walls Gallery, San Francisco in September of 2008. The beat goes on!

Over 100 pieces will go on display at White Walls in a timely new show titled “The Duality of Humanity.” The show marks an evolution for the artist, whose unique form of reverse propaganda emerged from the spirit of the punk movement. With this show, Shepard touches upon, but also goes beyond the ‘calls to action’ against mindless consumerism and war evidenced in previous shows like Nineteeneightyfouria, E Pluribus Venom and Imperfect Union. “The difference between this show and the previous ones is that now the optimism of a potential Obama presidency is in the mix,” Shepard said. His recent work reflects his own personal shift towards a new optimism, a direct result of his involvement with, and inspiration by, the powerful political ideals of Barack Obama.

The title of the show, “The Duality of Humanity,” is inspired by the peace-sign wearing US soldier in Vietnam, ‘Joker,’ in Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket. Fairey sees a strong parallel between the Vietnam war and the Iraq war. Fairey says that this show addresses the “human struggle between good and bad, hope and fear”. One of the show’s central pieces is a child with a gun in his hand and a flower in his hat. The theme of soldiers and weapons bearing peace signs, or peace signs comprised of military effects, runs through many pieces in the show. Environmental themes also appear in some pieces, illustrating the tenuous balance between our dangerously uncontrolled consumption of non-renewable resources, and our well intentioned eco-concerns. Suffering and hope are seamlessly merged in a visual mash-up that defies expectations and easy answers.

“The Duality of Humanity” includes larger mixed media pieces on canvas and paper that have been covered with carefully collaged ephemera, self-printed patterns and found clippings from printed media. The backgrounds provide a seductive painterly texture and visual subtext, often allowing apropos words and images to bleed through the iconic images printed and painted over them. The multiple layers create a sense of depth, but also bring in temporal elements through preserved newsclippings, historic images and vintage printing effects. It is the images in the foreground, however, that give the work its power. They are crisp and provocative, communicating in a way that is direct and clear.

SEPTEMBER 13th, 2008

DUALITY OF HUMANITY – Solo Exhibition
Opening Reception – September 13th, 7-10pm
Exhibition Dates – September 13th – October 4th

White Walls Gallery
835 Larkin Street
San Francisco, CA 94109

Check out these shortish clips about the show also:

AND

Below you’ll see renderings of the prints thus far, then source images, then fine art versions of the images. It is extremely important at this point to note that the collection of these images was done primarily by the fantastic volunteer-only staff at thegiant.org – an institution that I am proud to be a part of. There you can see the images below + closer and more detailed versions of several of the fine arts pieces.