Shepard Fairey

“When Justin Bieber started wearing the Obey bar logo, we discontinued it. That was kinda one of the last straws.”

“My idea about the role of artists is to get people to look at things in a way that's different than the way they normally would if they are being told how to think, what to do. I think when people receive information through art, they are more open-minded.”

“In the case of the Obama poster, I was just exercising my First Amendment rights - and my free speech is exercised visually. People who want to talk or write in order to share an opinion about Obama can do that, but when I want to say what I think about him, I need to make a portrait.”

“Greater financial success has allowed me to be more generous.”

“I don't have this obsessive need to do street art all the time because it's already opened doors for me.”

“If I spend time conceiving and making a piece of art, and somebody else sees that it has market value and replicates it in order to steal part of my market, then that's not cool.”

“Propaganda has a negative connotation, which it partially deserves, but I think there is some propaganda that is very positive. I feel that if you can do something that gets people's attention, then maybe they'll go and find out more about the person.”

“I hoped that Obama would be a delivery vehicle for change on issues I care about, but I never expect one politician to be the solution to the diverse array of issues I care about.”

“I've been making pieces dealing with environmental issues at least since 2004; I mean, I did stuff for the Sierra Club and the Alaskan Wildlife Refuge even back in the 1990s. But somewhere a little after 2004, Hummer hits me up. I'm like, 'Are you kidding me?'”

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

“I try to make my clothing line an entry point for discovering the substance of the rest of my work.”

“Tim Armstrong is a good friend.”

“The problem with copyright enforcement is that when the parameters aren't incredibly well defined, it means big corporations, who have deeper pockets and better lawyers, can bully people.”

“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.”

“If you're creating something that has some sort of cultural currency - if the idea is getting out there - then that will probably yield money in some form, whether it's through selling art or selling books or being asked to give a lecture.”

“If any group wants to not be disenfranchised, then understanding that there's going to be a learning curve for people who have disenfranchised them is important.”

“Street art, of course, is political, because it's illegal, so the very act of doing it is an act of defiance.”

“I've never really considered myself just a street artist. I consider myself a populist.”

“I do think that copyrights and intellectual property are important - it's important to be able to keep people from making verbatim copies of a particular creation that could somehow hurt the creator.”

“For me, there has always been a disconnect with the sort of elitist structure of the high-art world - and my distaste for that is at odds with my feeling that art should aspire to do great things.”