In this 1978 photo provided by the Museum of the City of New York, the graffiti mural “Howard the Duck,” is painted on a handball court in New York.
The Lee Quinones mural was a pivotal work that helped propel the illicit graffiti art movement from the subway system to above ground, and into the mainstream.
The original mural has been painted over, but Quinones recreated it on canvas and it is part of the exhibition, “City as Canvas.”
Graffiti art
“Graffiti Kids,” photograph by Jon Naar, 1973
Photographer Jon Naar documented New York’s graffiti art movement in 1970s and ’80s including artists, such as the pictured kids, posing with their work.
“City As Canvas: Graffiti Art from the Martin Wong Collection” will be on view at the Museum of the City of New York from Feb. 4 to Aug. 24, 2014.
The exhibition features hundreds of pieces of original graffiti art, as well as photographs of graffiti on subways and buildings, from the collection of Martin Wong – an East Village-based artist and collector.
Graffiti art
Untitled by Keith Haring, 1982
Haring strived to make his work as widely available as possible, granting permission to have his images on everything from t-shirts to posters to buttons, and as a result making his designs internationally recognizable.
Graffiti art
Various Artists, “Wicked Gary’s Tag Collection,” 1970-72
This large work showcases ink-drawn “tags,” or signatures used by more than 64 graffiti artists. The work functions as a who’s who of New York graffiti writers, and includes tags by the movement’s pioneers such as PHASE II, COCO 144, and SNAKE I.
Graffiti art
Black Book sketch by Dr. Revolt, 1983
Sketchbook drawings illustrated the artists’ process and style. In addition to sketching ideas for large works on subways and buildings, graffiti artists circulated their black books among friends to share drawings and lettering styles with one another.
Graffiti art
“The Death of Graffiti” by LADY PINK, 1982
LADY PINK painted “The Death of Graffiti” just as New York City Mayor Ed Koch and officials of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority reinvigorated their campaign to rid the subway system of graffiti.
LADY PINK depicts herself nude on a pile of aerosol spray cans. She points to a “clean train” emerging from the right edge of the painting that signifies the city’s effort to give all of the trains in service a fresh coat of white paint.
Graffiti art
Untitled by Sane Smith, 1989
A duo of graffiti-writing brothers – active from the mid- to late 1980s into the 1990s.
The two painted with the Rockin’ It Suckers (RIS) crew, winning respect within the graffiti community by hitting high-profile locations throughout the city in the face of growing anti-graffiti initiatives from the Metropolitan Transit Authority and the Koch administration.
The prolific pair entered the annals of graffiti legend in 1988 when they climbed the Manhattan Tower of the Brooklyn Bridge and painted their SANESMITH “throw-up”—a quickly-executed, two-color outline —in five-foot block letters. In the biggest lawsuit to date against graffiti writers, the city sued two men who they identified as the culprits. The case was dropped, however, after the death of one of the men in 1990 and the true identity of SANESMITH has never been officially confirmed.
Graffiti art
Untitled by Sharp, 1990
Aaron Goodstone, known as “Sharp,” began writing graffiti as a teenager and achieved international recognition at the age of seventeen, when he exhibited his work at Art Basel.
Graffiti art
Black Book sketch by Tracy 168, 1987
Sketchbook drawings illustrated the artists’ process and style. In addition to sketching ideas for large works on subways and buildings, graffiti artists circulated their black books among friends to share drawings and lettering styles with one another.
Graffiti art
“Hotel Amazon” by Daze, 1988
Daze depicts a scene from a school gymnasium turned popular 80s hip hop club Hotel Amazon, a that he was a part of, demonstrating the mixing of cultures in a party atmosphere.
Graffiti art
Untitled by Futura 2000, 1982
This Futura 2000 piece was actually part of a construction barricade on scaffolding in the early 1980s on Park Avenue.
Graffiti art
Untitled by Futura 2000, 1985
Growing media attention paid to “street art” led to interest from commercial galleries and collectors. As a result, by 1980, several gallery impresarios convinced young artists like FUTURA 2000 to produce works on canvas.
Graffiti art
Untitled by Cey Adams, 1983
Cey Adams began painting on buses and trains in the 1970s, by the early 1980s he became enmeshed in the Downtown art scene. He went on to become the Creative Director of Def Jam Recordings, and co-founded the Drawing Board, the label’s in-house visual design firm, where he has created visual identities, album covers, logos, and advertising campaigns for some of the most talented artists of the hip-hop movement.
Graffiti art
Black Book sketch by Sharp, 1983
Graffiti art
“Howard the Duck,” by Lee Quiñones, 1988
A vivid oil painting of the artist’s massive handball court mural, created 10 years earlier and since destroyed, at Corlears Junior High School on Manhattan’s Lower East Side.
Graffiti art
Untitled by A-One, 1984
A-One was an expressionistic aerosol artist that created densely layered and colorfully chaotic paintings.
Graffiti art
Untitled by Zephyr, 1984
Zephyr was a key figure in the transition of the writing movement from trains to canvas.
Graffiti art
“Sharp Paints a Picture,” by Martin Wong, 1997-98
Wong’s paintings reflect the influence of the artist’s friends on his own work. In this painting Wong depicts a shirtless Sharp wearing a respirator while standing in front of his painting.
Graffiti art
“Redbird (Stay High 149),” photograph by Jon Naar, 1973
Photographer Jon Naar documented New York’s graffiti art movement in 1970s and ’80s including landscape images of graffiti-covered subway trains rumbling through the city. This particular photograph is of a train painted by STAY HIGH 149, a pioneer in the writing movement.