The Penguin Books (UK) blog unveiled these cool new covers for Orwell’s classics 1984 and Animal Farm:
The covers are by the artist Shepard Fairey whose work I’ve always found interesting. The earliest pieces I remember coming across were mysterious stickers that were on telephone poles EVERYWHERE that featured the old-school wrestler Andre the Giant and the word “Obey”.
Fairey’s work borrows from propaganda, advertising/marketing, and popular culture. He’s a perfect fit for these two titles. I hope that these covers will make it to this side of the Atlantic. How lame is this?
Fairey’s work is often political - pointedly so. See if you can guess where the artist stands on these two politicians:
and
A collection of Shepard Fariey’s work has been published in the book Supply & Demand. I’ve been meaning to pick it up. Amazon says it is unavailable though.
April 14th, 2008 at 9:02 pm
You are right, Shepard Fairey is a perfect fit for these two books. I pre-ordered them this morning from Wordsmiths as soon as I read about them. The hubby recently bought this sweet Obey print, and one of my fondest Obey memories is of a Japanese tourist coming into the store and asking where he could find Obey street art around town.
Crim’s sold out of Supply & Demand right now, but I can e-mail you when we get it back in.
April 14th, 2008 at 10:04 pm
Lillian: Let me know when you get a fresh supply.
April 21st, 2008 at 6:06 pm
Those are some very sweet covers…
April 25th, 2008 at 10:32 pm
Those covers are beautiful. I have both of those books, but I’m pretty sure I’d trade them in for the pretty new ones.
September 22nd, 2008 at 8:18 am
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