12ozProphet

looks really great presented as such. congratulations to all involved and to graffiti movement as a whole.

Felicitaciones Alan!

amazing works.

great stuff..

great show, good to see the work presented well

Seriously lacking innovation though the homage to history is welcomed it is a sad state when throw ups and tags take center stage in the modern discourse of our art form.

WHO EVER THINKS THIS SHOW WAS SLAMMING AND PRESENTED PROPERLY MUST BE SMOKIN THE NEWEST CRACK!!! MR. MARE MY SENTIMENTS BE WITH YOU. ALOT OF THE STUFF IN THE "MAIN ROOM..IS FUNNIER THAN DAVE CHAPPELLE AT HIS FINEST.BUT HARD TO LAUGH AT!!WITH THE REAL ISH REGULATED TO WALLS IN THE BASEMENT THE JOKES ON ANY DUMMY WHO THINKS THIS IS WHAT REALLY REPRESENTING AND RESPECTING THIS ART IS!!!

tags and throw ups are the highest form of art, despite what washed up, old heads are whining about

BIG Kudos to the organizersof this gig.
Any time someone sacrifices their time and effort$ in order to showcase our Culture, they deserve our praise, respect and support.
http://micoaslatinpride.com

FFFred you are so mistaken and lack any sense of history and or creative criticism to think that the tag and throw up is such a high art form! Its like saying the chimp is further up on the evolutionary pathway than Man. Though all in the same genetic make up writers specifically the best of them that Ive ever wrote with and whom you will never write with, those who were both handstyle and throw up kings would hands down agree that Style Writing is the apex of all writing forms, so understand your place on the food chain before you say 'washed up' because on every level I am sure you cant even measure up to this or own my history. What you fail to comprehend about those who have laid the groundwork for this type of event to happen, we have legitimate concerns about representation and the quality of that representation. I dont think because someone gives you a showcase one needs to bestow them such high praise either, the show lacked in so many areas and was successful in others, you may just be an outsider looking so I see where your hype is coming from but for those of us who truly where a part of it and still are at the forefront of innovation and style writing in this culture this was at best a modest attempt.

i feel tags and throw-ups, when executed properly and with STYLE can definately stand on their own or along side burners as '"fineART" in a gallery or any other setting. you cant tell me a haze,or a comet throw-up lacks style,and is invalid at representing the writing movement. i do understand where you are comming from mare, and you obviously have the credentials to critique with utmost validity, im just opening the discussion and sharing my views. it all counts to me. id be intersted to hear specifically what you(or anyone reading this) feel are strongest and weakest points of the exhibition. peace all..

si señor- lets get this straight- a tag or a throw up can not stand next to a dope burna, it doesnt even make sense! as the burna is the extreme refinement of both. There have been and are many good handstyle writers and throw up writers in our culture, Haze and Comet among them, but those throw ups could not stand a chance next to a Slave or NOC 167 burna or a Case2 burna, share the same car maybe, but not in a manner that our creative evolution has dictated its hierarchy. Im not a hater of tags or throw ups that would be denying my foundation and dissing some of the great bombers that were my friends and writing partners- Min, IZ, RH2, SE, and others, they put in work, but know this these guys never over played themselves to think their throw ups were more than or equivalent to burnas, If this is any indication of my thoughts about the show, so be it. I would have preferred to see a real throw up king like Haze in the show doing some progressive shit than an Amaze throw up, to me that shit doesnt move me, its a cop out by the institution and the artist. Mind you this is curatorial crap and may have been what was called for but to me there was a lot of paint by numbers shit and examples of this art culture that could just have well been illustrated in a catalog rather than in a public forum. Ive been called elitist on this position but truth is that if you werent there or put in the work as I have or some of my contemporaries you are not going to understand the frustration with these types of events. In the end there is a pecking order and it isnt dictated by one show, institution or artist, it is an informed individual or collective its HISTORY and we, including myself get distracted by the noise on the blogs, print and galleries and such to the point we forget that ultimately its about contributing not just remedial contribution either, it has to aspire to something greater than it was a week, a month, a year or decades before.

MICO here repping The Original School.
To ry and compare a "hit" (tag), a "throwup" to a "burner", is like attempting to compare a conga to a piano.
Hits, masterpieces, top- to- bottoms, in-between-the-car hits, throwups, etc., they were all elements of a Culture that was growing and maturing with each passing day.
If we are going to talk about "extreme refinement," I would suggest that depending on the chronological reality at hand, each one of these elements was extremely important. I compare them to a musical instrument in a philharmonic orchestra. Each one played an important role in the development of the Culture, and when you put them all together, "the music" sounded so incredibly beautiful. This is why when a subway train covered with Writin' entered the station, it was music to our ears - beautiful music.
It is innacurate to compare a hit to a to a burner because for example, when MANI, Pelusa, MALO and I started hitting the streets around Erasmus Hall High School in Brooklyn, NY. in 1970 http://www.webspawner.com/users/micoaslatinpride/micorigins.html the hit or signature was the most important thing about hitting. We had not started doing masterpieces yet. But the signatures were what was happening for that time in history. Scooter, Undertaker Ash, King of Kools, Daddy Kool, Slim One, Half, WG, Dino Nod, Lazar, and a host of other Writers had unique signatures that when you saw them on a wall or truck or bus, you automatically knew who that was.
It was the same thing in Manhattan and the Bronx. WAP, Stay High "149," TAN 144, Jeck Star, Cliff 159, El Marko 174, and on and on, each Writer had a unique and badass signature, and that's what was happening at that time in history.
Then came the masperpieces and all the other elements that made Writin' what it became, one of the few art forms like jazz, gospel - music and rock -n- roll to originate in north amerika. MICO ~as~ LATIN PRIDE!

im not saying a wildstyle burner is not superior on the evolutionary scale of graffiti developement and or style. i am aware and agree that on a train back in the days or a wall a burner goes over a throw-up or tag and thats the rules. and even the dopest throw-ups, such as one by Haze fall into this criteria, and may not even have looked right sharing a car along side an all out wildstyle piece. however- in this particular gallery setting we are discussing, as in any gallery setting graffiti is taken out of its environment and definately out of context in regards to its evolution. hence if "greffiti" is on display in such a forum- i feel a haze or comet throw-up can easily stand (hang) - on cnavas- next to any other piece of graffiti- burner or other wise, as a display/example of graffiti at its best, not 'burners' exclusively being showcased, but 'graffiti' as a whole. i do agree- the amaze throw up doesnt move me either- and i hate to kep mentioning the same guy but a huge Haze throw up wouldve been way better for that slot. im just saying you shouldnt dismiss the stages that took place, and were the dope shit at their individual times, as not worthy or not fit to represent the culture. thats like saying picasso's(or any artists) early work is not fit to hang, and only his cubism bugged out shit it fit . or something. again i value your opinions im just arguing for arguements sake and to engage in debate with inteligent dudes that i have great respect for. peace

No Señor, dont argue for arguments sake -argue for conviction.

I have nothing but respect for mare,but my view's are contrary Pieces even though "especially" nice looking are really not original at all .... I feel Innovation will always' be just that .... Ther is no such thing as an original Idea- It's been done before or morphed one way or another. the only thing truly unique in this world Is the human's hand style hence the tag and the throw up have a much more great value than a "Prefabricated Piece" Hand style "tag's" mainly are probably the purest or only original God given form of art on the planet ..... Iam simply expressing my right to my option ... then again opinion's are like ass holes,everybody has one ...

I've been trying to find info on a French graf artist by the name of Banga. Have you heard about him?