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Graffiti Kings: New York City Mass Transit Art of the 1970s
Graffiti Kings is the definitive book on New York's subway graffiti movement, an unprecedented creative explosion that occurred across the five boroughs during the 1970s. This rare, firsthand account of the birth of this movement is the first and only graffiti book to reveal what happened behind the scenes when writers put their lives on the line to grab a piece of fame from a faceless urban landscape.
Through personal interviews and over 275 full-color, previously unpublished photographs, the colorful origins of subway graffiti are brought to life. Legends such as Taki 183, Blade 1, Phase 2, and Co-Co 144, as well as the city officials who saw the writers as public menaces and their art as vandalism, give accounts of everyday struggles, each full of new advancements, excitement, and risk. Although author and photographer Jack Stewart maintained a low profile at the time, his work is now a graffiti-world rumored to exist, seldom seen, a near-equivalent to the Dead Sea Scrolls. Alongside archival photographs of everything from vibrant bubble-letter and 3-D pieces to the Holy Grail, the whole-train pieces, are maps, images, and ephemera that help fill out the complete story. A celebration in words and pictures of graffiti's golden age, Graffiti Kings is a book sure to be coveted by those fascinated and inspired by this uniquely American urban art form.
Through personal interviews and over 275 full-color, previously unpublished photographs, the colorful origins of subway graffiti are brought to life. Legends such as Taki 183, Blade 1, Phase 2, and Co-Co 144, as well as the city officials who saw the writers as public menaces and their art as vandalism, give accounts of everyday struggles, each full of new advancements, excitement, and risk. Although author and photographer Jack Stewart maintained a low profile at the time, his work is now a graffiti-world rumored to exist, seldom seen, a near-equivalent to the Dead Sea Scrolls. Alongside archival photographs of everything from vibrant bubble-letter and 3-D pieces to the Holy Grail, the whole-train pieces, are maps, images, and ephemera that help fill out the complete story. A celebration in words and pictures of graffiti's golden age, Graffiti Kings is a book sure to be coveted by those fascinated and inspired by this uniquely American urban art form.
224 pages, Hardcover
First published May 1, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 26, 2011
Graffiti Kings is a well written account of NYC graffiti. Not only does Stewart talk about the golden years of subway graffiti in NYC, but he also talks about the influences and building up of graffiti in NYC, Philadelphia and how those scenes influenced graffiti globally.
There are amazing images of the graffiti as well, and as I used this as an aid for some art research I'd say it's a great book to use not only as a reference and to learn about graffiti, but also an amazing source of inspiration.
There are amazing images of the graffiti as well, and as I used this as an aid for some art research I'd say it's a great book to use not only as a reference and to learn about graffiti, but also an amazing source of inspiration.
November 5, 2012
I must admit, I kind of skimmed this book to get the basic gist of it. I mostly got it because I wanted to appreciate the art form of street people. Because in Philly we have the mural arts program and this book was about the time period of the 1970s, before murals I'm guessing.
It just interests me that the mural arts program puts up murals and no one puts graffiti over them. So I bought the book to support graffiti artists who might have been trying to make an identity of themselves by making what they saw as art.
I wonder what the fine line is between trash and art. Because I see the graffiti around the city and train lines and think it looks horrible, and the murals I see look beautiful. Beautiful yet Politically correct.
So this book kind of made me think that these artists really put themselves on the line in terms of making their mark. You could say it's trash, but I think (reading/skimming the book) that they were up against a corrupt society and this was how they got through those tough times. It's better than doing crime.
It just interests me that the mural arts program puts up murals and no one puts graffiti over them. So I bought the book to support graffiti artists who might have been trying to make an identity of themselves by making what they saw as art.
I wonder what the fine line is between trash and art. Because I see the graffiti around the city and train lines and think it looks horrible, and the murals I see look beautiful. Beautiful yet Politically correct.
So this book kind of made me think that these artists really put themselves on the line in terms of making their mark. You could say it's trash, but I think (reading/skimming the book) that they were up against a corrupt society and this was how they got through those tough times. It's better than doing crime.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews