Appropriation Art Again

Shepard Fairey had a solo art exhibit in LA in December. Among those commenting on the exhibit was Mark Vallen, who with the help of other artists, published online a lengthy, fairly savage attack on Fairey's unattributed appropriation from a vast number of sources. Vallen provides side by side comparisons and detailed discussions of each piece. Vallen's article is noteworthy in a number of respects: it represents one group of artists challenging another artist, and it sets out some thoughts on what he thinks represents genuine appropriation art from mere plagiarism. I imagine not all will agree with Vallen's approach, but the article is thorough, and would make for an excellent presentation at a seminar or law school class. Here is the link. Hat tip by the way to my favorite online sneaker website, hypebeast.com