He’s the creator of the iconic “Hope” poster that was part of the imagery for the Obama presidential campaign, as well as many commissioned (and non-commissioned) street murals across the country.
And soon, in Detroit, he’ll be going to trial.
Ot 9 a.m. on January 26, Fairey will face three felonies for defacing Detroit buildings with his art. He’s charged with two counts of felonious malicious destruction of property causing damage between $1,000 and $20,000, as well as one count of malicious destruction of property in excess of $20,000.
According to city officials, the total cost, including cleaning, repainting and rehabbing, was estimated near $30,000. It’s alleged that Fairey did nine unauthorized art installations in Detroit.
Defense attorney Bradley Friedman said that “He’s beautifying with his artwork,” according to MLive.
36th District Court Judge Kenneth King was clear in the preliminary hearing.
“You can’t put things on property without their permission,” said King. “If you do in fact have a fan base, if you do in fact play to this fan base – It’s not cute and it’s illegal.”
The 45-year old street artist recently painted a giant mural on the Compuware Building in Downtown Detroit, a commission from Bedrock Real Estate Services.
What do you think? Should the city pursue Fairey like this?