Artwork Description
An Act of Faith HPM Acrylic Spray Paint Silkscreen Print by Faile Screen Print on Fine Art Paper Limited Edition Pop Street Art Artwork.
2025 Signed & Numbered Spray Paint, Ink & Acrylic Paint HPM Embellished Limited Edition of 24 Artwork Size 25x38
An Act of Faith by Faile
An Act of Faith is a hand-painted multiple silkscreen print created by the Street Pop Art collective Faile, executed in 2025 in a limited edition of 24. Each print measures 25 by 38 inches and is individually signed and numbered. The artwork is a hybrid visual tapestry constructed using silkscreen ink, spray paint, and acrylic hand embellishment on fine art paper. Its vivid imagery and comic-inspired text panels present a layered critique of media, gender identity, and the construct of self-perception. This piece continues Faile’s legacy of transforming vintage commercial design into complex visual puzzles that interrogate popular culture.
Iconography and Satirical Power
An Act of Faith presents an aesthetic rooted in mid-century pulp comics, twisted with modern irony and subversive commentary. The central image features a man gazing into a dressing room mirror, surrounded by fractured reflections of women, a wolf, and disembodied pop culture references. The phrase Who am I? I can’t tell which is the real Faile reinforces the identity distortion that plays across the surface. Each character is stylized with bold outlines, saturated color fields, and meticulous brushwork added post-screening, transforming the uniformity of the silkscreen process into a collection of unique variants. Faile, formed by Patrick McNeil and Patrick Miller, began their collaborative work in the early 2000s in the United States. Their projects often use found iconography, commercial typography, and nostalgic aesthetics to challenge consumerism, masculinity, and mass production. This print extends that method through its satirical reference to mass media with phrases like Art That Respects Your Intelligence and The Most Puzzling Story You’ve Ever Seen. These slogans mimic vintage comic book advertisements but are reappropriated to critique visual culture.
Print Process and HPM Technique
An Act of Faith is printed using a traditional silkscreen process, a hallmark of Pop Art that channels the commercial reproduction techniques famously employed by artists like Andy Warhol. However, Faile distinguishes their method by employing HPM, or Hand-Painted Multiple techniques. Each piece is enhanced with layers of acrylic and spray paint after printing, resulting in a vibrant and textured finish. This process ensures that no two works are exactly alike, blurring the boundaries between print edition and painting.
Cultural Commentary in Street Pop Art & Graffiti Artwork
Faile’s work exists at the confluence of fine art, urban decay, and consumer critique. An Act of Faith takes the format of a comic book cover and reconstructs it into a statement about authenticity, perception, and mediated identity. It confronts viewers with the question of who controls the narrative of visual culture—artists, corporations, or consumers. With its blend of nostalgic aesthetics and street art grit, this piece exemplifies the crossover of graffiti’s rebellious roots and pop art’s accessible critique. As part of the 2025 limited series, it reflects the evolution of street pop art into museum-worthy dialogue, maintaining its roots in public disruption and cultural satire.
