"WHOLE IN THE WALL" NEW-YORK
529-535 West 35th Street / New York /NY 10001 -OPEN TUE-Sat 10:30 am - 6:30 pm /thu after hours untill 10:00 pm / or appointment
19 Artistes :
ASH.
BANKSY .
BLADE.
BLEK LE RAT.
CRASH.
DAZE.
HENRY CHALFANT.
IKON.
JAMEL SHABAZZ.
JONONE.
LEE QUINONES.
MARTHACOOPER.
NUNCA.
PLATEUS.
QUIK.
RAMMELLZEE.
SHARP.
SILVIO MAGAGLIO.
SOZYONE
1970 —NOW
“WE GOT NO TIME 4 TOYZ”! This poetic, powerful, and potent graffiti expression, deftly emblazoned high upon a facade of a once-proud Coney Island building in 1998, greeted all who arrived by subway to South Brooklyn. I marveled at its succinct message, syntactically memorable, and one which likely cautioned any territorial incursions by novice taggers, or perhaps, expressed the frustrations of a hardscrabble life. If poetry can be described as memorable language, graffiti can exquisitely embody the poetic.
In 1962, the melodic and lilting lyrics of “Up On the Roof” by The Drifters serenaded an urban youth culture with sounds and words which suggested a tamer, passive and outwardly contented populace. World events and domestic unrest would soon alter the harmony, and a convulsive period in our culture would shortly and noisily emerge. Within New York City, and most prominently in the boroughs of the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens, a disenfranchised and marginalized urban youth culture was significantly influenced by break-dancing, hip-hop, and political/social activism. Quiet urban rooftops, which once were sleepily described by the dulcet words and sounds of The Drifters, did not reflect, in the mid-60s, the emerging discontent , and discourse of time and place. City youths adventurously sought rooftops, billboards, railroad yards, subway cars/stations, city doors, underpasses, and the like to express themselves artistically. “Old school” graffiti letter forms, slogans, and tags were first rendered in felt-tip markers, Flo-master inks, and with sponges daubed in shoe polish, each insuring a speedy and clandestine application. Graffiti lore points to the markings of Taki 183, who 40 years ago as a mid-teen, was likely the earliest tagger. Seismically, the primary tools of taggers would be enlivened by the whoosh and rattle of aerosol spray cans equipped with customized nozzles having functional names such as skinny, fat, banana, and mop-top. Airborne paint deposited bold and wondrous wiggles, drops, and spatter on “canvasses” of concrete, brick, metal, and wood. A new aesthetic took hold, often producing effects more akin to masterful calligraphy than labored cacography. With its rising popularity, early graffiti masters attracted an exuberant band of devotees, too long marginalized in the national culture and now in search of personal empowerment. At times taggers were members of a gang and their work served a territorial function.
Anti-graffiti legislation and determined police squads, followed by aggressive prosecutions of transgressors, for some time have sharply curtailed the widespread graffiti activity associated with New York City’s extensive transit system. With great stealth, cunning, daring, and stamina, taggers and crews through much of the 1970s, and mainly at night, adorned the exteriors and interiors of subway cars, transit stations, and railroad yards. Resplendent brightly-colored bubble and wild style pieces, throw-ups, platform letters, and re-appearing tags appeared throughout the city. While the vast fleet of subway cars and its supporting infrastructure is now largely free of graffiti, its presence is still observed elsewhere in the city. The microscopic and sweeping curvilinear qualities associated with letterforms in illuminated manuscripts of long ago may well have a descendant in urban graffiti. Pledges of love inscribed upon a wall of Juliet’s home in Verona, Italy, over many centuries as well as early Christian writings on catacomb walls in ancient Rome, deepen those linkages. Some 90 miles south of graffiti’s DNA, New York City, urban youths in Philadelphia were similarly motivated. I taught at Tyler School of Art in the early 1970s and can attest to the strong presence of “old school” graffiti in the City of Brotherly Love.
Early stylemeisters who emerged from graffiti’s golden period in the 70s were Blade, Crash, Daze, Quik, Ramm-ell-zee and Lee Quinones, to name but several. Inevitably, the underground success of the movement found a mainstream venue in 1983 at Sidney Janis Gallery on 57th St. NYC. All of the aforementioned names were represented in that hallmark exhibition, to include Jean-Michal Basquiat and Haring. With the exception of the deceased Basquiat and Haring, the others have reunited for the Whole in the Wall 1970-Now exhibition.In the catalogue for the 1983 Sidney Janis Gallery exhibition, titled Post-Graffiti, Crash states (p. 7): “My work which I call Post-Graffiti-Pop is much related to the Pop artist Roy Lichtenstein but also has a powerful color composition that is very much extracted from my previous subway work.” Relatedly, the 1983 catalogue cover was designed by Crash and Daze and the back cover by Crash. Sidney Janis in his introductory remarks glowingly validates graffiti art as a contemporary art movement while linking it to Pop. Janis further notes that (p. 2): “slides showing examples of their earlier subway art will be shown.” A recent Christie’s auction in NYC estimated the selling price of a 1982 Basquiat painting, Mater, to be 5-7 million dollars. Janis can be certainly viewed as a visionary.
In evolving from the underground to the more hallowed ground of established galleries and museums, the signature street “cred” of graffiti has morphed into museum “cred”. In recent years, the Whitney Museum of American Art has displayed Haring and Basquiat retrospectives, while the Brooklyn Museum of art in 2006 mounted an exhibition entitled “Graffiti” and in 2004, the Rose Museum (Brandeis Univ.) displayed the work of Barry McGee. Globally, graffiti has re-invigorated museum offerings, providing a hard-earned showcase for both “old school” graffiti and a newer generation of artists and media (e.g. LED throw-ups). WHOLE IN THE WALL 1970—NOW splashily continues the trend, attracting luminaries from countries beyond America. Included are artists such as the elusive and omnipresent Banksy (UK); Blek le Rat (France), an early pioneer in stencil graffiti; and Nunca (Brazil) who recently collaborated on a project which colorfully transformed the exterior of Kelburn Castle in Scotland
Indispensably, the exquisite archival photography and scholarly contributions of long-standing chroniclers of graffiti art, Henry Chalfant (USA) and Martha Cooper (USA), capture the graffiti movement with grace and precision. Photographers Jamel Shabazz (USA) and Silvio Magaglio (France) further enrich our understanding of graffiti art
Tag on!
Stephen F, Smalley
Emeritus Professor/Art
Bridgewater State College
Bridgewater, Massachusetts, USA
May 2009
