Artwork Description
Moonage Daydream 5-Color Hand-Pulled Limited Edition Silkscreen Print on Fine Speckletone Art Paper by Artist Shepard Fairey OBEY.
2022 Shepard Fairey Numbered Limited Edition of 1910 18x24 inches. Screenprint on thick cream Speckletone paper.
"David Bowie is one of my favorite musicians not only because so many of his songs possess magic, but also because he was creatively fearless and perpetually collaborative. I first discovered David Bowie in 1983 when his Let’s Dance album came out, and its hits like “Let’s Dance,” “China Girl,” and “Modern Love” were getting radio play. I became a die-hard Bowie fan once I picked up Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars at a flea market a few years later. Ziggy Stardust is one of my favorite albums ever. It makes sense that it was Bowie’s breakthrough album, not just because his newly adopted androgynous glam image was provocative and mesmerizing, but because the songs on the album are incredible! At first, my favorites were obvious rockers like “Suffragette City” and “Ziggy Stardust,” but over the years, folkier songs like “Soul Love” and “Starman” really grew on me. It’s almost impossible to pick a favorite Bowie song from Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars, much less Bowie’s entire catalog, but if I had to, I’d pick “Moonage Daydream.” –Shepard
Shepard Fairey Moonage Daydream Silkscreen Print
Moonage Daydream is a 2022 five-color hand-pulled silkscreen print by Shepard Fairey that honors David Bowie through the lens of Street Pop Art & Graffiti Artwork. The portrait captures Bowie during the Ziggy Stardust era, presenting him with stylized contours, cosmic backdrop, and sweeping graphic arcs that suggest motion, sound, and theatrical transformation. The palette of magenta, gold, black, and muted teal reinforces the glam rock atmosphere while maintaining the bold, poster-driven clarity that defines Fairey’s visual language. Printed on thick cream Speckletone fine art paper, the texture enhances the layered inks and gives the piece a tactile presence consistent with traditional screenprinting practices.
David Bowie, Ziggy Stardust, and Cultural Impact
David Bowie was born David Robert Jones in 1947 in the United Kingdom and died in 2016. He remains one of the most influential musicians and visual innovators of the twentieth century. The song Moonage Daydream appears on the 1972 album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, a landmark release that introduced Bowie’s androgynous alien rock persona to a global audience. The track is widely recognized for its dynamic instrumentation and lyrical futurism, combining theatrical performance with experimental sound. Fairey’s portrait draws from photographic outtakes associated with the Ziggy Stardust era, translating Bowie’s photogenic intensity into a graphic composition that balances reverence with reinterpretation. Within Street Pop Art & Graffiti Artwork, Bowie’s boundary-pushing identity aligns naturally with Fairey’s long-standing interest in cultural icons who challenge convention and expand artistic vocabulary.
Edition Details and Artistic Significance
This 18 by 24 inch silkscreen print is signed and numbered in a limited edition of 1910. The five-color hand-pulled process requires precise registration to achieve the smooth gradients and bold separations that define the portrait. The cosmic star field background and flowing graphic elements reinforce the sci-fi undertones of the original song while situating Bowie within a timeless visual space. Shepard Fairey’s real name is Frank Shepard Fairey. He was born in 1970 in the United States and remains active. Known for merging music, activism, and graphic design into cohesive visual statements, Fairey approaches Moonage Daydream as both tribute and reinterpretation. As a work of Street Pop Art & Graffiti Artwork, this print connects the rebellious energy of glam rock with the visual immediacy of contemporary screenprinted iconography, making it a significant collectible for admirers of both Bowie and Fairey’s socially engaged artistic practice.
