Étudiez le HOPE poster de Shepard Fairey (2008)

Exemple : Shepard Fairey's HOPE poster, created in 2008 for Barack Obama's presidential campaign, uses a stylised portrait in red, blue and beige, with a single word — HOPE — beneath the face. Formally, the image borrows from Soviet propaganda posters and from Fairey's own OBEY campaign, giving it an instantly recognisable graphic power. Its rapid virality on the internet — a novelty at the time — turned it into one of the most reproduced images of the campaign. This shows how contemporary political art can shape a candidate's image more effectively than any official portrait. However, the story took an ironic turn when the Associated Press sued Fairey in 2009 for using a photograph by Mannie Garcia without permission. The case raised uncomfortable questions about copyright, appropriation and the borders between art and propaganda. Ultimately, the poster embodies both the promise and the ambiguity of political art in the digital age.