Occupy Hope is Shepard Fairey’s statement of support for the Occupy movement, and it’s as straightforward yet nebulous as those dissenters claim the movement is. Taking the Guy Fawkes mask that has become synonymous with revolution, he paints the protesters as they are: hopeful yet wary (just look at the eyes). It’s also interesting that he paints The 99% in the same manner that his original poster had depicted the President, but with a message being directed to the man in that original poster.
As he states in his post, “Change is not about one election, one rally, one leader, it is about a constant dedication to progress and a constant push in the right direction.” So, yes, even that most famous of outspoken political activists realizes that we have to figure out a way of fixing a broken system without throwing away “the baby with the bath water”. The time leading up to the 2012 Presidential election should be interesting, as the voice of the Occupy movement continues to grow louder across the country and around the world. Let’s hope that this time is taken to use their spirit and voices to develop the next necessary step: actual reconstruction.
