Stephen Colbert, Shepard Fairey, Andres Serrano
Oil on Canvas with spray paint and Sharpie marker
March 8, 2011
Piece that was done for charity by Stephen Colbert, comedian and writer on Comedy Central. The painting is of Stephen Colbert standing with 4 other portraits represented behind him. The words OBEY are spray painted to the right side of the piece, and Stephen Colbert's face is written on with horns and a mustache.
Stephen Colbert was very comical about the piece from the start when he had Steve Martin look at it on his show, The Colbert Report. His focus was to donate it for charity by promoting it himself and was right next to it when it was auctioned off for $26,000. The added work to the piece was a joke by Stephen and the other artists, and it ended up benefiting in the end.
In the piece, there are multiple illustrations of Stephen in the background. This resembles his other 4 paintings that he has already sold for charities in the past. The charity he donated to this time was Donorschoose.org, which is an online charity for student in need.
This piece is a great portrait with a strange twist. It is shocking to some due to the fact that the changes done by Sharpie show Stephen as evil, and due to the fact that Stephen is saluting. It is a change that shows how little changes can change the message of an art piece.
(LeRoy Reynolds)
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