Active members of the group United Graffiti Artists and born in the Manhattan north area, they are exhibiting early works on paper and canvas (1973 - 1976) for the first time here, in Paris, the original sketches of stylistic rendering of their names.
In the extravagant context of 1970’s New York, saturated with political and cultural contradictions, history teaches us that a handful of students were able to reignite people’s conscience. Carefree and impertinent, the amusing habit of writing on walls and urban fixtures developed to an extent as to become an official part of the art scene, thereby upsetting a world whose codes of behaviour had seemed until then largely impenetrable. COCO144 and SNAKE1, now in their ‘60’s, today bring historical evidence to the Speerstra Gallery of the essential part they played in launching this art movement, at a stimulating time when tags competed in impulsiveness and rivalry. Active members of the group United Graffiti Artists and born in the Manhattan north area, they are exhibiting early works on paper and canvas (1973 - 1976) for the first time here, in Paris, the original sketches of stylistic rendering of their names. In a documentary and educational spirit, "The Founding Fathers of Graffiti" exhibition also displays Roger Gastman's work "Wall Writers" on the surface of an entire wall at the Gallery. The Speerstra Gallery is glad to present today the work of these adolescent precursors, become founding fathers of the post-graffiti movement, at a time when graffiti is finding success in very new ways.
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