Street Art Legend Shepard Fairey Unveils Murals in Dubai Design District

Contemporary US street artist Shepard Fairey has been busy since he landed in Dubai. He’s unveiled two new murals in Dubai Design District (d3) – his first public works of art in the Middle East.

Located between Building 10 and 11 in d3, the striking murals pay homage to Dubai’s vision for cross-cultural communication and cooperation. Both murals convey the universal message of peace, harmony and co-existence.

Blooming 

The first mural is ‘Rise Above Peace Fingers’. It features a patterned peace sign plus with a fist holding a flower that doubles as a paintbrush. “The fist is a symbol of strength and empowerment, the paintbrush is for art and the flower as something positive, growing and blooming,” explained Fairey.

Exhibition

The second is ‘Rise Above Dove’. It contains an image lifted from Shepard’s ‘Future Mosaic’ exhibition, currently running at Opera Gallery Dubai. Created in Shepard’s signature style, both murals boast bright tones of red, blue and yellow juxtaposed with black and white.

Similarities

Shepard Fairey is on his first official visit to the Emirate. “Dubai and the US have more in common than many people realise,” he said. “As well as promoting vibrant creative industries, they both promote justice, peace and tolerance.” The artist is grateful to Opera Gallery Dubai and d3 for the opportunity “to create a piece of work that reflects and honours our similarities rather than polarising our differences”.

Journey

Shepard Fairey began his journey through the art world by designing stickers for skateboards. He created the ‘Andre the Giant has a Posse’ sticker that later evolved into the Obey Giant clothing brand. Today, his presidential portraiture of Barak Obama hangs in Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery in Washington DC.

His ‘Future Mosaic’ exhibition features a number of new works and classic pieces. Many of them share similarities with, and references to, traditional Middle Eastern and Arabic design. Opera Gallery Dubai Director Sylvain Gaillard said: “As one of the world’s most renowned contemporary artists, his work transcends all cultures and disciplines of art.”

Also read: Famous Street Artist Shepard Fairey Brings Exhibition to Dubai