COPENHAGEN

Obama Artist Shepard Fairey Attacked in Copenhagen

Work vandalized with “go home, Yankee hipster” message.

American artist Shepard Fairey, who earned international acclaim when his famous “Hope” poster became an emblem of Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign, was attacked hours after his new exhibition opening in Copenhagen by men who called him “Obama illuminati” and told him to “go back to America.” The Los Angeles–based artist believes a controversial mural that went up in the city last month sparked anger among left-wing extremists. The mural commemorated the demolition of a youth house that had served as a base for the city’s left-wing community, and Fairey believes it was misunderstood as government propaganda. “The media reported that it was commissioned by the city, which wasn’t true,” he told the Guardian. Within a day of going up, vandals had scrawled graffiti over his work with messages that read “no peace” and “go home, Yankee hipster.”