"Occupy Hope"

Street artist Shepard Fairey has transformed his HOPE posters into something new. The original poster featured Barack Obama and was made in support of the soon to be president. Now, the poster features the Guy Fawks mask which has served as a symbol at the Occupy Wall Street protests.

The poster reads, "Mister President, we HOPE you're on our side" with a stamp that reads, "We are the 99 percent."

Do not mistake Fairey's new art piece as a statement against Obama. Fairey has not abandoned his faith, or "hope" as it were. Fairey has this to say about "Occupy Hope."

"This image represents my support for the Occupy movement, a grassroots movement spawned to stand up against corruption, imbalance of power, and failure of our democracy to represent and help average Americans. On the other hand, as flawed as the system is, I see Obama as a potential ally of the Occupy movement if the energy of the movement is perceived as constructive, not destructive. I still see Obama as the closest thing to “a man on the inside” that we have presently. Obviously, just voting is not enough. We need to use all of our tools to help us achieve our goals and ideals. However, I think idealism and realism need to exist hand in hand. Change is not about one election, one rally, one leader, it is about a constant dedication to progress and a constant push in the right direction. Let’s be the people doing the right thing as outsiders and simultaneously push the insiders to do the right thing for the people. I’m still trying to work out copyright issues I may face with this image, but feel free to share it and stay tuned…"

For more information about this piece and Shepard Fairey, visit the official website, here.