By Danielle Capalbo, News staff

Months of preparation counted for little Friday night when street artist Shepard Fairey was arrested en route to a sold-out opening party for his exhibit at the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA).

The 38-year-old was nabbed by police on two outstanding warrants for property damage by graffiti, said Boston Police spokesperson James Kenneally ‘- graffiti being the linchpin of Fairey’s career and first solo exhibit, ‘Shepard Fairey:’ Supply & Demand.’

The show is slated to run at the ICA through Aug. 16.

Fairey had been in Boston upward of two weeks prior to his arrest, installing ‘Supply & Demand’ and plastering the city with his now-controversial guerrilla art. But Boston police intercepted him just 15 minutes after the exhibit opened, Kenneally said, before the artist had a chance to DJ as scheduled, or even experience the festivities.

‘I don’t know why they arrested him that night,’ said Geoff Edgers, an arts reporter for the Boston Globe who profiled Fairey for a Jan. 25 article called ‘Shepard the Giant.’ ‘It seems strange. He’s been in town, and the incidences [from the warrants] date back. Why not arrest him the next morning, or a couple of days earlier?’

While ‘Supply & Demand,’ a 20-year survey of Fairey’s work, marks his first solo foray into the world of museums, his arrest marks something altogether different:’ the culmination of an already controversial week for the LA-based artist, including, Edgers said, considerable backlash from Bostonians.

Last Wednesday, the Associated Press wire service leveled charges that Fairey infringed upon its copyright to create his best-known image:’ a vectorized red-white-and-blue portrait of President Barack Obama underlined by the word ‘HOPE,’ said Paul Colford, director of media relations for the AP, in a press release.

The image was derived from a photograph taken by Mannie Garcia, the release said. By the time Obama was inaugurated last month, Fairey’s version of the portrait was ubiquitous.

The arrest was unrelated to the AP’s claims. Fairey’s attorney, Jeffrey Wiesner, said in a press release the artist was completely unaware of the pre-existing warrants.

‘Had he known, he would have resolved all such issues before the opening of his art exhibit at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston,’ Wiesner said.

Fairey was released a few hours after the arrest, said Donna Desrochers, director of communications at the ICA, in a press release.

Fairey’s arraignment is scheduled for today, though it’s unclear whether it will take place in Brighton District Court, Roxbury District Court or both, said Jake Wark, spokesperson for the Suffolk County District Attorney.

‘There were two complaints against him from two different jurisdictions,’ Wark said.
During the two weeks Fairey spent in Boston prior to the incident, he gave sold-out public talks, was honored by his alma mater, the Rhode Island School of Design, and unveiled some original outdoor works, Desrochers said. Those new works included a 20-by-50-foot banner called ‘Peace Goddess’ on City Hall, and a couple of murals on campus at Tufts, she said.

‘We believe Shepard Fairey has made an important contribution in the history of art and to popular thinking about art and its role in society,’ she said. ‘We are enthusiastic to be working with him and are pleased to be showing the first museum retrospective of his work.’