Free Republic

President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign is asking artists to design promotional posters that convey a message: “support American jobs.” The brutal irony for artists, however, is that they will receive no payment for their work. The campaign, which has $61 million on hand, will reward only the three artists whose work is selected for use. The compensation? A copy of their artwork, signed by the president. The Graphic Artists Guild isn’t pleased with the ask. On Saturday, the guild issued an open letter to the campaign voicing outrage over what it called a “shameful” competition.

This just happened. Right after receiving the victorious news from New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg that Occupy Wall Street doesn't have to move out of Zuccotti Park after all, protest organizers learned they'd been blessed with a Shepard Fairey original. An East Coast art-blog editor who's been keeping up with the artistic aspects of OWS (and oh, there are many -- in L.A. too!) told WNYC radio of Fairey's "Occupation Party" invite: Look familiar? ​"I think it's really great that it's an upward looking positive image, as well as it tries to tie together a little bit of the radicalism...

A West Coast legend does his part. ​Yup. This just happened. Right after receiving the victorious news from New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg that Occupy Wall Street doesn't have to move out of Zuccotti Park after all, protest organizers learned they'd been blessed with a Shepard Fairey original. An East Coast art-blog editor who's been keeping up with the artistic aspects of OWS (and oh, there are many -- in L.A. too!) told WNYC radio of Fairey's "Occupation Party" invite: "I think it's really great that it's an upward looking positive image, as well as it tries to tie...

Serial art plagiarist Shepard Fairey, the man responsible for stealing a photo and making it an icon, was attacked last weekend in Copenhagen after he failed to understand that history has meaning. Fairey had been in the city creating a series of “street art” murals on the sides of buildings. The Guardian reports: “The LA-based artist believes the attack was sparked by a misunderstanding over his mural commemorating the demolition of the legendary “Ungdomshuset” (youth house) at Jagtvej 69… Fairey’s installation, painted on a building adjacent to the vacant site, depicted a dove in flight above the word “peace” and...

The Associated Press has sued several retailers including Urban Outfitters for the unauthorised use of the Hope image created by artist Shepard Fairey. Artist Fairey used an AP photo without permission to create the image, and was sued by the news agency for violating copyright. That case was settled. AP argues that using the image on T-shirts is wilful and blatant violation of the copyright of the photo. A spokesman said that using photos for free devalued the work of journalists. The news agency filed lawsuits against Urban Outfitters, Nordstrom and Zumiez seeking unspecified damages. A Nordstrom spokeswoman said in...

How all good Leftists (AKA HOLLYWOOD) must have voted:Follow along on this Oscar Nomination list.Best Picture:As you can see from this Big Hollywood article from Lawrence Meyers, a majority of these nominees are not worthy.It's clear that there is only one movie that you could've voted for in this category with a clear conscience: The Kids Are Alright.from John Nolte's review:Remove from this little family drama the gratuitous girl-on-girl sex, the guy-on-girl sex, and the ridiculously unnecessary and explicit images from a guy-on-guy gay porn film that no amount of hypnotism or bleach could ever erase from my mind,...

WHERE ARE THEY NOW? [taken from October 2010 articles/blog posts]NASA's Islam Outreach Minister Charles BoldenGOP lawmakers are critical of Charles Bolden for leaving last week on a trip to China just as the agency he leads begins pursuing an ambitious new agenda. It is the latest in a series of controversial moves that some speculate could result in Bolden's ouster. A law signed a week ago gives NASA four months or less to develop a dozen different plans for the future, including a detailed report on how it would replace the retiring space shuttle.It's an ambitious schedule, one that NASA...

The artist whose poster of Barack Obama became a rallying image during the hope-and-change election of 2008 says he understands why so many people have lost faith. In an exclusive interview with National Journal on Thursday, Shepard Fairey expressed his disappointment with the president -- a malaise that seems representative of many Democrats who had great expectations for Obama. Fairey explained that when he came up with the poster in 2008, he was trying to find a single image that embodied the issues he cared most about -- promoting health care, helping labor, and curtailing lobbyists. He likened the issues...

Fairey, , "Some of the works are about gridlock in Washington. Washington is too intertwined with corporate America . . . I had a lot of hope for Obama, but it's not panning out. He's not pushing hard enough."

NEW YORK — Lawyers for artist Shepard Fairey must disclose the identities of anyone who deleted or destroyed records related to a copyright dispute over the Barack Obama "HOPE" image, a judge said Monday

A judge in New York revealed today that artist Shepard Fairey is facing a criminal investigation in connection with his admitted misconduct in the ongoing legal case with the Associated Press, according to reports... A spokesman for the AP said in a statement issued this evening that the news organization has received a grand jury subpoena related to Fairey's misconduct during the case. A lawyer representing Fairey did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In October, the L.A. artist admitted that he knowingly submitted false images and deleted others during the case in an attempt to conceal the...

Any album with a title that openly mocks President Obama needs a cover that's equally subversive, and Jello Biafra's artwork for 'The Audacity of Hype' certainly delivers. The former Dead Kennedys frontman opted for a version of Shepard Fairey's famous "HOPE" picture and replace Obama's image with a demonic version of himself, fangs and horns included. Rather than just get an artist to spoof the picture like so many others have done, Biafra went to Fairey himself. "We've known each other for years, at least by phone and being fans of each other's work. He'd done another album cover for...

Shepard Fairey’s claim that he had the right to use a news photo to create his famous Barack Obama “HOPE” poster became a widely watched court case about fair use that now appears to have nearly collapsed. By Friday night, his attorneys — led by Anthony Falzone, executive director of the Fair Use Project at Stanford University — said they intend to withdraw from the case and said the artist had misled them by fabricating information and destroying other material. Fairey himself admitted that he didn’t use The Associated Press photo of Obama seated next to actor George Clooney he...

NEW YORK — Shepard Fairey's claim that he had the right to use a news photo to create his famous Barack Obama "HOPE" poster became a widely watched court case about fair use that now appears to have nearly collapsed. By Friday night, his attorneys – led by Anthony Falzone, executive director of the Fair Use Project at Stanford University – said they intend to withdraw from the case and said the artist had misled them by fabricating information and destroying other material. Fairey himself admitted that he didn't use The Associated Press photo of Obama seated next to...

"Shepard Fairey has now been forced to admit that he sued the AP under false pretenses by lying about which AP photograph he used to make the Hope and Progress posters," Kasi said. "Mr. Fairey has also now admitted to the AP that he fabricated and attempted to destroy other evidence in an effort to bolster his fair use case and cover up his previous lies and omissions." Kasi said the AP would continue to "vigorously pursue its countersuit alleging that Fairey willfully infringed the AP's copyright in the close-up photo of then-Sen. Obama."

A statement emerged tonight from AP concerning its long battle with artist Shepard Fairey over his use of an AP photo as the basic image for his famous Obama campaign poster. AP claims that Fairey's attorneys admit he tried to destroy some evidence, faking others and that his attorneys have sought to get off the case. Statement from Srinandan R. Kasi, VP and General Counsel, The Associated Press, follows. * Striking at the heart of his fair use case against the AP, Shepard Fairey has now been forced to admit that he sued the AP under false pretenses by lying...

Over the last week, Big Hollywood and Big Government have been extensively covering the August 10 conference call between the National Endowment for the Arts and a group of artists – a call on which the artists were encouraged to support President Obama’s agenda, with the tacit promise that they would be handsomely rewarded with government grants. The NEA representative on the call was then-Communications Director of the NEA Yosi Sergant. Now we have new evidence that the White House itself has been using its sway to recruit artists – not just to support President Obama’s “volunteerism” initiatives, but to...

Even though Obama's popularity has been sliding significantly, Shepard Fairey, designer of the viral blue-and-red Manifest Hope poster, thinks it's the perfect time to release a slick and comprehensive anthology of celebratory Obama-related artworks: Art for Obama, which he co-edited with Evolutionary Media Group founder Jennifer Gross, comes out October 2. In addition to getting a look at the imagery, we spoke with Fairey about Obama's approval ratings, how political art reaches beyond politics, and his thoughts on the artistic deification of our leader.Watch the Slideshow Siegel: Tell us about the idea behind Art for Obama. Fairey: People undervalue...

Via twitter from Jonah Goldberg JonahNROJust got email from NEA. Yosi Sergant resigned, effectively immediately.

PHILIP ELLIOTT (AP) - Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON White House officials told agencies across the government Tuesday they should take care to avoid even the appearance that politics played a part in the award of federal grants. The advisory came in response to an embarrassing incident last month in which a National Endowment for the Arts official asked artists on a conference call to coordinate with the Corporation for Public Service on ways to help bolster President Barack Obama's public service agenda