The Pioneers and the Masters

Towards the end of the 1960s graffiti found its roots not in New York but in Philadelphia. It wasn’t until the early 1970s, when stylised initials and signatures, known as ‘tags’ began appearing on New York trains, that Street Art became part of the wider public consciousness.

Visual codes established at that time are still in effect forty years later. The street artists known as Blade and Seen (the Godfather of Graffiti) were considered to be the early masters and their knowledge, skills and techniques have been passed on from generation to generation. From simple writing on walls, these artists developed a unique style and set the foundations of a new art form.

The ‘old school’ graffiti of the 1970s and 80s is now easily recognisable. Beyond the chosen surface, whether on the subway, on a wall or canvas, the spray-can techniques are inextricably linked to Street Art. Artists such as A-One, DONDI or Futura have been key in transforming the practice into a movement. As they experimented they fed their passion in every possible way. Emulation and adrenaline played an important role in the energy and uniqueness of their early work.

Highlights

Crash (b. 1961)
Untitled, 1982
Spray paint on canvas
Lourdel Collection
Photo: courtesy of Stéphane Bisseuil

Crash is known for his classical graffiti that is tinged with pop art references. After initial success early on in the 1980s, specifically at Fashion Moda Gallery, New York, Crash (aka John Matos) went on to have a successful career exhibiting in galleries all over the world. His style drew inspiration form the visual environment in which he grew up – America of the 1960s and 1970s – with the omnipresent language of advertising and the birth of Pop Art.

QUIK (b.1958)
I'll never grow old, 1987
Spray paint on canvas
Lourdel Collection

Photo: courtesy of Stéphane Bisseuil

I’ll never grow old, the work displayed here by Lin Felton aka QUIK, is an unusually playful, ironic work from an artist who is known to have paved the way for graffiti that carried deeper meaning. QUIK questioned an America that was increasingly obsessed with consumerism and the conformist Pop Art aesthetic and his work often addressed issues of integration of African Americans into wider society. Of his approach, he said, “I can’t sing, I can’t play an instrument, so I paint the blues.”

Futura (b.1955)
Untitled, c. 1982
Spray paint on concert background
Lerouge Collection
Photo: courtesy of Stéphane Bissseuil

Futura began painting in the New York subway in the 1970s and soon developed his own abstract graffiti style that he called Futuristic. From the outset he chose not to follow the lettering trend, but rather worked to produce visualisations of movement and speed. He excelled in his handling of the aerosol can. He created atmospheres – ethereal worlds full of evanescent symbols – he blended colour explosions and pure lines.

A-One (1964–2001)
The Babylon System, the Prophet, 1985 Spray paint on canvas
Private Collection

Photo: courtesy of Stéphane Bissseuil

Anthony Clark, a.k.a. A-One was a prodigious talent. Like many self-taught artists his education took place on the streets. He made the decision not to paint trains and instead chose walls and canvases. A-One set himself apart with a particularly expressive style, one where spray-painted silhouettes with bulging eyes blended together. His compositions included a multitude of clashing objects and phrases, swirling together in plumes of smoke. Dense, to the point of being difficult to decipher, his pieces embody the graffiti aesthetic of explosion and eruption.

DONDI (b. 1961)
Untitled, 1984
Spray paint on canvas
Private Collection

Photo: courtesy of Stéphane Bissseuil

The artist DONDI (Donald Joseph White) began to graffiti in 1975. He set himself apart from the other street artists of the time, abandoning the sacrosanct contours of graffiti-type in order to paint letters as if they were three-dimensional or abstract elements. Like others, he transitioned to canvas where the visuals of his writing were in contrast with the brightly coloured graffiti seen on trains and exterior walls.

Blade (b. 1958)
Distant Traveller, 1987
Spray paint and marker on canvas

Lourdel Collection

Photo: courtesy of Stéphane Bissseuil

Blade was only 15 years old when he formed the Crazy Five Crew. He was later nicknamed the “King of Whole Cars” after having spray painted 5,000 subway cars in total on lines 5 and 2 of the New York subway between 1975 to 1980.

Blade’s contribution to graffiti culture is fundamental as he was the first artist to develop the entire composition around an initial tag. With this approach, the trend was not just about writing one’s name as big as possible but also about the careful choice of colours and the addition of objects and symbols to the composition, as well as the use of perspective and geometry.

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