American Civics - Mass Incarceration, 2016
© Obey

American Civics - Mass Incarceration, 2016

Print
By Shepard Fairey
About the image

American Civics is a fine art limited edition series of five prints: Voting Rights, Mass Incarceration, Workers' Rights, Gun Culture, and Two Americas. 

This piece is based on a photograph of Johnny Cash taken at Folsom Prison, California, 1968. Cash asked Jim Marshall to photograph his groundbreaking concerts at both Folsom Prison (1968) and San Quentin (1969) Prison to bring awareness to the inhumane prison conditions in the United States. 

“In the past, I was doing Johnny Cash images for art or commercial products. In this case, Johnny Cash has a different use. It’s a gateway. If you look at the images woven into the image, there’s Martin Luther King’s mug shot. There’s the prisoner’s bill of rights in the corner. There’s some references to ‘Public Enemy’ that were [in] headlines back in Al Capone’s time. But for me, it also references the [hip-hop] group Public Enemy, which has a song, ‘Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos,’ which is about a prison break.” --Shepard Fairey

A portion of proceeds will benefit cut50 and the Jim Marshall Fellowship at UC Berkeley.

In August 2018, Shepard Fairey and his crew completed a 15-story mural of his American Civics - Mass Incarceration artwork featuring Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison by Jim Marshall. This mural was created in collaboration with Wide Open Walls and Brande Arts, and is his largest mural in California.

Release Notes:
4-Color Serigraph on Varnished 100% Cotton Rag Archival Paper.

Collector's Notes:
Each print is hand-signed and numbered by Shepard Fairey and stamped by Jim Marshall Photography LLC. Orders will ship within a few days.

Buyers will receive a certificate of authenticity following delivery. Please contact us with any questions!

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American Civics - Mass Incarceration, 2016
American Civics - Mass Incarceration, 2016