Debuting this summer, American Civics is the first-ever collaboration between acclaimed contemporary artist Shepard Fairey and the estate of legendary photographer Jim Marshall.
In it, Fairey interprets Marshall’s iconic photography from the 1960’s, including images of Johnny Cash, Cesar Chavez, and Fanny Lee Chaney, with five new works, vividly depicting the humanity behind some of our country’s enduring social justice issues: Voting Rights, Mass Incarceration, Workers’ Rights, Gun Culture, and Two Americas.
The works will be unveiled and on display at a VIP reception at the Mansion on O Street in Washington D.C. on Thursday, May 19. The event will highlight the first piece in the series, Voting Rights, and will benefit The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, America’s premier legal organization fighting for racial justice.
Social issues that have underscored the divisiveness of recent past decades, especially the ‘60s, have characterized our time.
• Racism and bigotry, deeply rooted in America’s history, are visible in places like Ferguson, Mo., Baltimore, Md., and Charleston, S.C.
• Over 46 million people live in poverty in present-day America, including an estimated 15 million children.
• In the first three months of 2016, more than 3,000 deaths in the U.S. were gun-related.
• America continues to struggle with the problem of mass incarceration. In fact, though having only 5% of the world’s population, the U.S. now has more than 25% of the incarcerated population.
The art of American Civics gives a face to these issues to cultivate dialogue and encourage vigorous solutions to problems that have divided the country and eroded the core of the American ideals.
American Civics is a Fine Art Limited Edition series of five serigraphs: Voting Rights, Mass Incarceration, Workers’ Rights, Gun Culture, and Two Americas. Each title is limited to an edition of 100 prints, and each is hand signed and numbered by Shepard Fairey and stamped by Jim Marshall Photography LLC.
There are four portfolios of the American Civics print series, which will include the Jim Marshall Limited Edition Estate photograph of each subject in a portfolio box designed by Fairey.
