BLADE - King Of Graffiti

King of Graffiti – BLADE

When listing the most important New York graffiti writers of the 70s and 80s who have become part of graffiti folklore, BLADE inevitably appears among the first names. In KING OF GRAFFITI, together with Chris “FREEDOM” Pape, he tells his story through twelve chronological chapters, starting from 1957.

From his beginnings as a writer in 1970 to the legendary crew The Crazy Five, from his collaboration with COMET to anecdotes about his funk band, all the way to his entry into the art world: each chapter combines a huge collection of photographs of sketches, panels, concept wholecars, and even double wholecars created by a single writer, documented by photographers such as Martha Cooper, Henry Chalfant, Keith Baugh, and Jack Stewart, with insights into the person behind these iconic works.

The title KING OF GRAFFITI may well stem from a characteristic that distinguishes BLADE from most of his contemporaries and the so-called kings of subsequent generations. While many writers aimed for perfection through rigorous three-dimensional letters, studied forms, and extremely clean lines, BLADE always managed to maintain the authenticity and original flavor of the 70s in his pieces, canvas works, and even legal works. It is difficult to find another famous New York writer capable of preserving such a spontaneous, playful, creative, experimental, and free style for decades.

This 256-page hardcover volume is a must-have for anyone wishing to delve into the origins of style writing. It is also an interesting read for fans of naïve style and anti-style, movements that experienced a revival in the mid-2000s. As the preface states: “...BLADE might very well be the favorite writer of most graffiti artists.”

• Publisher: Schiffer Publishing
• Edited by Roger Gastman
• Texts by: BLADE and Chris “FREEDOM” Pape
• Cover: Hardcover with red metallic details
• Format: 22.2 × 28.5cm
• Language: English
• Pages: 256
• Year: 2014
• ISBN: 978-0-76-434661-3