88 Quotes by Shepard Fairey

As a street artist, I’m used to sharing my stuff with the public. It’s a communal experience. I’ve learned not to be so precious, but rather to enjoy the process.

Art shows and the institutions end up being the couriers for culture for the next generation and are an important component as well. It may seem ironic from one perspective, but I think if you look at my overall strategy, it’s actually not out of step.

I think “punk” should really be defined as paving your own way creatively and by defying any sort of orthodoxy or commercial pressure.

I love the classic trucker jacket as an icon of rock ‘n’ roll and rebellion.

If the idea that my safety can only be enhanced by putting other people’s privacy and safety in danger, then I don’t want to be more safe.

The Internet wasn’t even an option for me, so one of the reasons I was so motivated to do street art was because there was no other outlet. Maybe if the Internet had been around then, I would have tried to do stuff that went viral and was clever and got me a lot of hits.

I think the Internet has definitely made it easier for people to have stuff seen, but it’s also encouraged a level of ADD, where you see so much that if it doesn’t make an impact on you immediately, you don’t look at it.

Just because you’ve reached a certain level of success, that doesn’t mean you’ve become corrupted by the system.

The most important thing about intellectual property vs. creative expression is that copyright law was created not to stifle creativity but to encourage creativity.