I’ll be the first to admit that I know next to nothing about Hip Hop. My favorite era was the early 80’s when def jam was in it’s heyday and Public Enemy ruled.
I do know graff, however and this wall is fire. Much respect to C3 and his crew!

Not ready to give up Led Zep yet, but these guys got me thinkin’ about it!

  Miami ,during Art Basel, must be seen, smelled and heard to be believed. Amidst a backdrop of murals from the hottest street artists the globe has to offer, a washed up old graff writer (yours truly) and some friends set up a table with a mountain of books, ready to write their names on something legit. Luckily they were all veterans of repetitive autographing , so writer’s cramp wasn’t a factor. T.KID 170 came all the way from the Bronx,Daze from Manhattan, FLINT ... from Staten Island, Ellis G. and Cern from BK and reppin Japan, Aiko and Shiro. How and Nosm were already there and we all signed opposite one of their massive murals (Nunca’s mural was behind us)  in the courtyard. Risk and Tyke/Witnes showed love from the West Coast and Cash for Your Warhol(Somerville, MA. stand up!) placed cards in each book on the stealth. Martha Cooper alternated between the roles of signator and documentarian. About 5,000 people rolled through Wynwood Walls that night and some even bought books. Here’s a few flicks of the signing and some “extracurricular activities” . Just got a much better batch of photos from Martha Cooper. Why would I even consider letting my grainy phone flicks compete with her camera? Here they go:

                                                                                    ALL PHOTOS @ MARTHA COOPER 2011

RISKY BUSINESS

ALL PHOTOS @ MARTHA COOPER 2011

  I met Lady Aiko shortly before Art Basel 2010. She and Martha Cooper convinced me to make the pilgrammage to South Beach and so I let my anti-permission walls anti- Street Art guard down. I was midway through compiling my book and thought it’d be a good way of getting content and meeting some of the players on the other (Street Art) side of the fence. I was flattered as hell when Aiko asked me to paint a wall with her , fully cognizant of the fact that time had passed me by and without a subway car canvas I was out of my element. Needless to say she injected my ancient scrawlings with school bus and temptress stencils that brought breath to my lifeless letters as if she were a Japanese Dr. Frankenstein. That trip and collaborating on that wall with her caused me to look at Street Art with a newfound respect without feeling I had sold graff out.
    Aiko Nakagawa moved to NYC from Tokyo in the mid 90’s . She hit the streets of Europe hard and became a founding member of Faile. She also rocked with Murakami prior to his stratospheric rise to fame. Now ,having launched a successful solo career andkilling it with shows in Amsterdam, LA, NYC, Shang Hai and Paris to namedrop a few locales, it’s Lady Aiko’s name that’s ringing bells. Honored to have this girl supporting me at Wynwood. Tokyo/BK represent!

AIKO IN SHANG HAI

The 12 oz. Fam is already in Miami . Thought it’d be nice to give some shine to the peeps who are supporting my event. Batting in the leadoff spot is a cat I’ve known over 30 years and not always on good terms. Peaceful co-existence between us didn’t work out too well during his Vamp Squad period. T.KID 170 had one of the greatest stylistic influences in what graff looked like in the 80’s having executed hundreds of burners on transit. He was one of the first Americans to go rock over in the UK and influenced German and other Euro writers with dope wild styles and funky characters. Personally , I liked his comeback with Boozer on Broadway with the Roger Dean exploding planet backgrounds. A good guy to have on your side and the wrong guy to have beef with or owe money to, T.KID’s rep doesn’t need to be re-hashed here.
His work appears in Graffiti 365 several times , including the pages designated for Alex One of Mac Crew and The Amazing SKE from PR. T.KID 170 will be repping at my Wynwood Walls event and has brought down a treasure trove of canvases and subway maps for collectible purposes. Here’s what I mean:
T.KID 170 Paris with PORTRAIT OF DAUGHTER ALYSSA by ALEX ONE MAC CREW (from Graffiti 365)

See you at the signing on December 2nd at Wynwood Walls 6-8 PM!

    While there’s no question the premise of Thanksgiving is shaky when its origin is considered, there’s no doubt many of us have much to be thankful for. I am blessed with an amazing family , great friends and projects both realized and envisioned. I have loved graff since witnessing my first Taki 183 tags and hate the incongruity that exists within this culture . Street Artists command six and seven figure sums for their work, while the cornerstones of the writing culture struggle to get by. Both Ket and Faust have already brought attention to the plight of pioneer/innovator Riff 170 who is currently homeless. While his spirits are high and he’s looking good , the cold weather is upon us. One thing I miss about the 70’s is the elegant tag styles that lined the insides of the subway system. While the artistic bar rises higher and higher by the year , the art of tagging seems to be a forgotten element. This drawing , although recently executed , calls forth the primal element of writing—the tag. It’s the foundation on which the house of style was built .If you love writing and this culture then help a man out who gave it to you. If you don’t know who Riff 170 is , then do some homework. Hint: He’s the cat who invented something you use in your piece today before you were even born.

If anyone happens to be in Miami for Art Basel , please be sure to come by Wynwood Walls for what’s sure to be a killer event. Just peep the list on the invite.
NUFF SAID!

Prior to TERROR 161’s exposing him to his epic tome, GRAFFITI 365, this was Hizzoner’s take on graff::

The N. Y. TIMES
NEW YORK DAY BY DAY ; Graffiti and Koch
By Susan Heller Anderson and David W. Dunlap
Published: March 14, 1985

Mayor Koch, visiting the Frederick

Douglass Intermediate School in Harlem yesterday, failed to raise much emotion when he talked about putting undercover police officers in schools to combat drug use.

But he got an unexpected reaction in response to his statement on graffiti.

The Mayor said that graffiti were offensive and ruined the atmosphere of a community, and that anyone who was caught should be punished - perhaps by serving a prison sentence after the third offense.

The school’s art teacher, Doris Manigualt, disagreed. As Mr. Koch was leaving the school, at 2581 Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard, near 149th Street, she argued that he was indicting graffiti without recognizing its artistic aspects.

‘‘Do you want to hear me or do I have to just leave?’’ the Mayor told her. ‘‘When you tell me that I have to say it’s O.K. for students or anybody else to mark up public buildings, you lost me.’‘

My man was a little hesitant at first about what to make of my book. I guess he liked what he saw ‘cause…...

I am most grateful. First this appeared on my radar and then 12 oz. showed me some love. Much appreciation to Faust and Allen. Thanks a million, guys.

Here’s the USA Today link:

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/popcandy/post/2011/10/need-a-coffee-table-book-here-are-three-ideas-/1

New light on an old subject! OK so I ran this flick once before, but I like it and it’s my blog. Plus, you cats have short attention spans anyway!

http://thegspotcolab.blog.com/2011/09/19/graffiti-365-terror-161json-speaks/

OK, so it’s a little rougher for us older cats to get up on the net; precisely why I went to a 19 year old whiz kid to design this informative site for my book. You can write reviews, look at flicks or dare I say , even read some text about street art, graff and yours truly. Here’s a few sample flicks from G-365:
This Risky flick is an out take but the LA pioneer is in full effect with a different image:

This clip was shot at the Bronx studio where over 70 pieces were created during a 5 week period in 2007. It was similar to the Sam Esses Project done in 1980 with the exception being that almost half the work was sold and ultimately featured in a museum show in Leipzig Germany that the late collector Gunter Sachs orchestrated. A book documenting the show was published featuring NYC graff artists hanging on the museum walls next to Warhol’s work. below is the link to the video

http://vimeo.com/25776241
Hated to see it go.

  On Wednesday night , DEZ gave me a guest spot on his SHADE 45 show to promote my book. Lots of fun snapping . My man is hilarious and I’m no slouch .