Last night was the opening to the Deitch Project’s final exhibition – May Day. It features Shepard Fairey’s portraits of cultural icons including Jimi Hendrix, John Lennon and Yoko Ono, Patti Smith, Keith Haring, the list goes on. “The overall idea is the steps that individuals take to make art, change culture, change politics,” says Fairey supporting the concept behind the show. The line to go inside was around the block on this warm summery evening. People seem to be really excited to see the artist, the art, and to be a part of this New York moment. I realized the power of Shepard Fairey has reached out and beyond to gather an eclectic mix of people, which was the most interesting aspect of the opening. I met a team of indie filmmakers from Yugoslavia doing a documentary on street art traveling across the ocean to do spot interviews including this one with Fairey (more details about this film to come). Here are the photos and video recap from last night.

(courtesy Deitch Projects)

When I saw the huge Shepard Fairey mural going up on Houston and Bowery a few weeks ago, I was definitely surprised. By now, if you know Fairey’s work and you saw the wall, you’ll probably agree that these are more of his known propoganda images, and not fresh new work. After a bit of investigation, I came to realize that it’s part of a grand scheme including an exhibition at the Deitch, which opens today titled May Day, and the Obey conceptual pop up shop located in the Lower East Side.  It’s a clever way to tie it all together and market both art and products simultaneously and instantaneously. May Day is on view at the Deitch from May 01, 2010 — May 29, 2010. Here is a video interview of the artist with Wnyc.