Shep Fairey — he of the ubiquitous Obama poster, the ubiquitous Obey Giant street-art campaign,  and countless other works, has now portrayed the Dalai Lama in this new portrait, Compassion.

You may recall that Fairey recently portrayed Aung San Suu Kyi as well.

Done to celebrate His Holiness’s 75th birthday, Compassion is available from Fairey’s website, and net proceeds will be split between Tibet House and LA Friends of Tibet. (The Dalai Lama’s birthday is on July 6.)

Of the piece, Fairey says:

“I’ve always had great admiration for His Holiness and his non-violent approach to the plight of the Tibetan people. When I was approached with the opportunity to work with this beautiful image as a sanctioned source and create a work that evokes the Dalai Lama’s presence as I feel it, I was thrilled. I hope His Holiness remains a presence of compassion in the world for many birthdays to come!”

Compassion goes on sale at “a random time” today, here. Only 500 will be available, so hurry. UPDATE: all 500 copies have already sold out as of early this afternoon.

Another small update: You might also like seeing this Burmese monk from the Obey archives.

Thanks to Born Infinite for the tip.

See the website of the great Beautiful/Decay magazine. And let the Horse know what you think.

Hat tip to kin.

Evan Brenner’s one-man play, “The Buddha: In His Own Words” will play in Cambridge, MA (after several successful runs elsewhere) on Sunday, October 4th. The play has been praised by the likes of The Boston Globe, The Boston Herald, and Dr. Mark Epstein — and, just as good, proceeds go to that most venerable of institutions, the great Cambridge Insight Meditation Center.

Here are the details about getting tickets:

Date: Sunday, October 4, 2009
Time: 7pm – 9pm
Location: Cambridge YMCA Theatre
820 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge MA02139
Tickets Available: 1-800-838-3006 or: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/73386

And, here’s a clip:

I’ll let the image do the talking for a moment here:

Beautiful, ain’t it?

In case you didn’t know: it’s a portrait of Aung San Suu Kyi, imprisoned leader of the National League for Democracy in Burma, as rendered by the great Shepard Fairey. You know, he of the Obama “Hope” poster, the famous “Obey/Giant” campaign, and a zillion other things.

I for one feel that we’re quite fortunate that the attentions and talents of so gifted a visual communicator are being applied to something that so many people in our community care so deeply about.

(If you’re reading this right now, you’re part of that community. At least that’s how I see it.)

The Obama/Hope image, which became truly ubiquitous, is only one example of how much real, capital-H Hope — and possibility – a good image can convey. And it seems that, more and more, this is becoming Fairey’s stock in trade. Though he can paint a bleak — but often necessary — picture with some of his images, he does “Hope” very, very well.

He sure has here, hasn’t he? And I think when it comes to Aung San Suu Kyi, the more Hope we can muster, the better.

Thought you might appreciate this one — a sign (or rather, a painting of one) from artist Nathan Nadeau’s show in Providence, RI, called Time of the Signs. According to writer Bill Van Siclen, it:

“advertises something called the Samsara Motel, a place where ‘you come back over and over again.’ While the sign’s blinking lights and mid-century design conjure up images of the Vegas Strip, circa 1955, the name of the hotel points in a very different direction. (In Buddhism, ’samsara’ refers to the cycle of life, death and rebirth that precedes nirvana.)”

The show can be found at Wolcott Eco Office, at 28 Wolcott Street in Providence.

…Kate Moss.

According to the Daily Mirror: “Kate Moss is trying to slow down her fast-moving life by meditating. And now a pal tells us: ‘She’s really into Buddhism and has bought a bronze Buddha.’”

Of course, that’s not the statue, pictured there. That’s actually a statue OF Kate Moss, AS the Buddha, by artist Marc Quinn. (I originally covered this back in From the Worst Horse’s Mouth, my column which ran in the Shambhala Sun for a while. You can read that here.)

I wonder if Quinn is somehow responsible for Kate getting the meditation bug?

As a certifiable MAD magazine nut — I took the office tour back when they were at 485 “MADison” Avenue, and even had a letter published in issue # 315 — I was thrilled to see this painting, from a new exhibition in Atlanta called “The Mad Generation.” Said exhibition is a tribute to the art and artists of MAD, something that I personally think couldn’t ever happen enough.

The painting is by Vinnie Blanco, and is called “The Enlightened Fool.”

For more details and to inquire about ordering it — if I don’t beat you to it — visit the exhibition’s website, here.

Way back, the Horse posted about Buddhist “Hell” theme parks, and also showed you a related sculpture by the artist, Mats!? Well, Mats!? has been going great guns along these lines for a while now with his website and travelog comic, AsiaAdict. To wit, here’s a video he put together, “A little montage consisting of gruesome religious propaganda with a sprinkle of photos of Buddhist Hellparks!”

As one good friend, Joe, says about some Buddhist depictions of Hell and death: “That’s so metal.”

If you want some more, check out Mats!?’s stuff here.

Two new items for y’all, via the mighty Konchog Norbu. (Shocker!):

First, he writes: “OK, dude, this is def one for the Horse. You ain’t seen nothing until you’ve seen the Dalai Lama and Obama, holding a pie around which it says, “Give Peace a Pie, eat it up every day,” rendered…in an art quilt. Yes. Swear. Behold “Olama: Two Guys and a Pie,” courtesy of my vajra sister and enthusiastic quilter Ani Dara.

Secondly, he sends on this report from a sacred hog ceremony in Taipei. Who knew?

Just a little end-of-year grab-bag-o-’Burgers for ya… (There may be more, but I doubt it; we’re expecting to be shoveling for two days straight in these parts.)

Reader Adam B. sends this one from L.A.: “I saw this in the supermarket today and thought it makes a perfect Dharma-Burger. Apparently nothing says ‘Nirvana’ more than a 50 gift certificate to Cost Plus World Market.”

Funny. (And what kind of name is “Cost Plus” anyhow? Oh, good. I get to pay more than it costs!)

We’ve covered a lot of iPhone apps here, but this one’s particularly cool: introducing the 99-cent Diamond Sutra for the iPhone app, with language support in English and Chinese.

Imagine going anywhere and having the Diamond Sutra (or whatever scripture or text you’re studying in your practice) in your pocket. This kind of use of technology is just so smart.

Expect to see a lot more of it.

Thanks to the always-great YogaDawg for sending this one (left):

“You might find this amusing.  Picked this up in a bar a couple of years ago in Charlottesville, VA.  I thought the inside [which says, 'find enlightenment now'] was pretty creative.”

(I tried to find a website for the BB, but all I found were a couple of references that made it sound notorious. Hmm.)

And while we’re talking Buddhism and “bikes,” check out this shirt, from Buddhacycle.com. Spiritual Materialist that I am, I’m gettin’ one.

Lastly: if you have a TV (and more power to you, maybe, if you don’t), you’ve likely heard about NBC’s coming show Superstars of Dance. It premieres Jan 4 and is worth a mention here — and maybe even worth watching — due to the fact that Shaolin monks are going to be in the competition. Shaolin monks know how to get down.