Shepard Fairey Opens First-Ever Atlanta Solo Show
By @sharedot · · 6 pages
- Art
- Street Art
- Exhibitions
- Shepard Fairey
Shepard Fairey's first Atlanta solo exhibition, 'New Day Rising,' brings 180 works to ABV Gallery.
What happened: 180 works arrive in East Atlanta
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, via ArtsATL, reports that 'New Day Rising: A Solo Exhibition by Shepard Fairey' marks the artist's first solo show in Atlanta, opening at ABV Gallery in the city's East Atlanta neighborhood with a large crowd at the October 24, 2026 reception.
The exhibition gathers 180 works — paintings, prints, mixed-media pieces and hand-cut stencils — and remains on view through Jan. 3, 2027.
Why it is surprising: the Hope artist finally lands in Atlanta
For an artist whose 2008 'Hope' portrait of Barack Obama became one of the most recognizable images in American visual culture, the absence of an Atlanta solo show is striking — especially given Atlanta's deep civil rights history, which Fairey tells AJC shaped his work through figures from Martin Luther King Jr. to Congressman John Lewis.
AJC reports that Fairey attributes his Atlanta roots to his sister, who once lived in the city, and to his deep friendship with ABV Gallery founder Greg Mike, with whom he collaborated on a mural in the gallery's Art Yard.
The evidence: a stated theory of the image
The interview material grounding the show's meaning comes from two outlets' direct access to the artist.
AJC reports that Fairey describes his new works — including the stencil, silkscreen and collage title painting 'New Day Rising' (2026) — as aiming at inspiration rather than despair, asking what an image can make people see and do.
In Art Plugged's Asbury Park interview, Fairey states his position plainly: 'Propaganda is meant to end the conversation, while what I do is meant to begin an alternative conversation,' and he calls his work a prompt, not a command.
He also concedes, per Art Plugged, that his Kamala Harris 'FORWARD' poster failed by the only measure that mattered, while still counting his TIME American 250th cover as a win for its reach.
What comes next: art access as the agenda
Both outlets frame Fairey's next chapter around access and public walls.
Art Plugged reports that he counts anyone who peels a print off a city wall as a collector, treats his ladder of price points as the agenda itself, and argues that gentrification concerns around murals are 'a civic engagement problem, not an art problem,' answering: vote.
AJC notes the ABV Gallery exhibition extends its founder's mission of amplifying contemporary art in a community space, continuing conversations the gallery has hosted since 2009.