SHEPHARD FAIREY SELLS SHOCKING ART SUPPLIES ON PORTLANDIA

Portlandia kicked off its fifth season a few weeks ago and in a recent episode shock art gets bashed in one of the best send-ups of bad art genres ever. Fred & Carrie peddle “shock art supplies” to art students at a warehouse-type art supply store called, yes, “Shocking Art Supplies.”

Artist Shepard Faireymakes a cameo as a store clerk holding a doll with its head on backwards and keeping a straight face, it’s a “radical juxtaposition,” then asks: 

“What does that say about our society?”

This season they also enlisted contemporary art photographer Catherine Opie to shoot their promo pictures (above). Opie is a fan of the show since its first season: 

“My portraits are so quiet and so still and they’re also really serious. So I was a little bit surprised at first that they wanted to go for my style. But they wanted my style because as a comedian, you don’t need to make comic-looking images.”

And last season’s promos (below) were shot by hot property and art world darling, Alex Prager in her signature “face in a crowd” style. Watch the video. It should be mandatory for art students.

The perfect store for students looking for items to use in their shocking art projects (featuring Shepard Fairey). Subscribe to IFC to see clips, behind the scenes, web exclusives, and more!: http://goo.gl/1aOr5r Fred Armisen, Carrie Brownstein and many more of Portlandia's most loved and eccentric characters are back for a fifth season of the Emmy®-­‐ nominated, WGA and Peabody award-­‐winning comedy series.

(via ArtNet)