At the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, time went back and art followed. On Tuesday, former President Barack Obama took the crowd by storm, but this time slogan Campaign Campaign 2008Yes we are Th“Yes we can” came out of his mouth likeYes you can(Yes You Can), in support of candidate and Vice President Kamala Harris, which was reinforced by former First Lady Michelle Obama, who said that “hope is returning.”HopeThat was the word on the famous Shepard Fairey poster that helped promote Obama. It's happening again: On Saturday, Fairey created a poster for Harris, who will speak at the Democratic convention on Thursday, and the slogan is “forward“- Time may move forward.

the attachedwhich already has 76 thousand “likes” on Instagram, and is available for Free Download And in high definition on the Internet. Fairey, whose career as an urban artist was already well known behind the creation of Obey Giant, became a media personality and globally recognized thanks to the impact. HopeOr the Obama Effect. And now, inspired by Kamala Harris’s words (“We’re Not Going Back”), “a summary of the moment we’re in” in the artist’s view, he has created this work as a form of “activism that everyone can use in a non-commercial way.”

PÚBLICO contacted Obey Giant to find out how many people Downloads This has already been done and there is a comparison with what happened in 2008, but the company did not collect this data and could not provide it in a timely manner.

“I was not paid by it and will not benefit financially in any way from it. I created this work solely in search of a better future,” he wrote when posting the image, which has already begun to appear on the streets. In 2008, Fairey’s poster appeared in downtown Chicago, on walls and pillars, at the time of the same party convention that would lead Obama to the presidency. In recent days, under Chicago’s famous above-ground subway loop, it has been attached Kamala has already made a prominent appearance at the conference.

“But we will not back down. In fact, we have a very real opportunity to move forward,” Ferry writes, listing areas he considers essential and where he believes Harris can mean change. “A healthy planet, corporate responsibility,” “equal access to health care,” “fair immigration policies” and a move away from “racism, sexism, xenophobia, and homophobia.”

The Democratic campaign is taking on the flavor of the historic moment of Obama’s election after two presidencies by Republican George W. Bush, not just because of the myriad public figures and celebrities who are supporting Harris in a way they haven’t for President Joe Biden, but because of the geopolitical climate. “We are facing growing threats and reactionary political opponents,” Fairey posits, speaking of “fascism and threats to democracy.” Vote, too, he says. connection To register voters.

Fairey's artwork is an important political intervention not only because of its weight. Hope But also because Hillary Clinton did not deserve the same attention because she was not “inspiring enough”. Even though it is a decisive election like the one of 2016, which gave victory to Donald Trump (against whom he made posters with African-American women, Muslims and Latinas). It is worth noting that Fairey, a voice similar to Banksy in urban art – with the necessary difference of having a face and expressing his opinions in text – repeats this gesture despite considering that Obama did not live up to expectations because he “gave up” on “many things”.

In recent months, Ferry has been unhappy with the way his work is being viewed. Liberty, equality, fraternity: la Marianne [a mulher que representa a República Francesa] De ObiAgainst the backdrop of campaign videos of Jordan Bardella, of the far-right National Union party, decorating his office. To French Daily Le MondeHe regretted its use at the time: “The far right is destroying the spirit of the image that revolves around brotherhood and living together, and giving it another nationalist interpretation that imposes borders.”

In 2017, when Emmanuel Macron ran for the French presidential election with his En Marche! movement, Marianne De Obi It was at his campaign headquarters, but the party denied wanting to use it as a propaganda tool. Ferre has several murals in Lisbon, one in tribute to the April 25 Revolution and another in collaboration with the Portuguese Vels depicting two women.