Artwork Description
Metallica Helping Hands Silkscreen Print by Shepard Fairey- OBEY Hand-Pulled Color on Cream Speckletone Fine Art Paper Limited Edition Artwork Obey Pop Culture Artist.
2024 Signed by Shepard Fairey- OBEY & Numbered Limited Edition of 500 Artwork Size 18x24 Silkscreen Print Featuring a Skull Flower For the Mega Rock bands Metallica, Sammy Hagar & Sistastrings
"Metallica recently asked me to create the poster for their Helping Hands concert. Of course, I said yes because Metallica is one of my favorite bands and the tightest live band I have ever seen! Plus, the concert benefits some great causes. This print celebrates triumph over adversity while acknowledging that life is fragile and it’s in our hands to build the world we want for ourselves and our brothers and sisters." -Shepard Fairey- OBEY
Metallica Helping Hands Silkscreen Print by Shepard Fairey - OBEY
Shepard Fairey’s Metallica Helping Hands silkscreen print fuses raw rock iconography with the sharply tuned visual philosophy of Street Pop Art & Graffiti Artwork. Created for Metallica’s December 13th, 2024 concert at the YouTube Theater in Los Angeles, the artwork stands as both a promotional and cultural artifact—one that reinforces Fairey’s unique position at the nexus of music, politics, and visual rebellion. This limited edition, hand-pulled silkscreen print on 18x24 inch cream Speckletone paper is not only signed and numbered by Fairey himself, but also issued in a strict run of 500 copies, elevating its stature as both a collectible and a testament to contemporary poster art.
Design Symbolism and Visual Impact
The composition centers around a stark white hand clutching a stylized flower whose petals subtly morph into a skull motif, with the flower’s stem winding in a way that evokes both delicacy and defiance. This emblem, rendered in bold reds, blacks, and whites, signals duality—life and death, fragility and force, compassion and rebellion. The deliberate contrast between the flower’s soft curves and the jagged lines of the skull mirrors the complex ethos of Metallica’s music, where heavy riffs often meet introspective lyrics. Fairey’s hallmark typography and symmetrical layout deliver the immediacy and intensity familiar in his most iconic works, extending the print’s resonance far beyond mere merchandise.
Metallica and the Culture of Amplified Resistance
Metallica’s presence in pop culture transcends heavy metal. Their brand of amplified resistance, sharpened through decades of visual, sonic, and lyrical output, fits naturally into the framework of Street Pop Art. Fairey’s poster positions the band not just as musicians, but as cultural avatars whose artistic collaborations hold weight in the visual conversation around social change. By visually contextualizing the concert’s philanthropic mission—benefiting Metallica’s All Within My Hands Foundation—Fairey presents rock music not just as expression but as action, and art as an extension of that impact.
Shepard Fairey’s Role in Street Pop Art & Graffiti Artwork
Fairey’s artistic lineage is defined by disruption, clarity of message, and the subversive use of commercial aesthetics to question power structures. In this print, he leverages those core traits while paying homage to a band whose legacy aligns with his own. The print maintains the stylistic elements synonymous with Fairey’s OBEY imprint—sharp silhouettes, geometric precision, and symbolic weight—while also introducing a warmth and sentimentality not always seen in his politically charged works. The image of the skull flower, set against the backdrop of a performance by Metallica, Sammy Hagar, and Sistastrings, becomes a modern-day reliquary—a symbol of unity through sound, protest, and design. This piece not only enshrines a single event but expands its reach into the broader discourse of art activism, making it a defining example of what happens when two cultural juggernauts—Shepard Fairey and Metallica—merge on canvas within the framework of Street Pop Art & Graffiti Artwork.
