Graffiti Kings: New York City Mass Transit Art of the 1970s

an absolutely amazing collection of sharp, clear and vividly colorful photographs of the maturation of the new york city subway graffiti scene circa early to late seventies. i was there and remember it well. any writer/artist interested in the roots of "modern" graffiti needs to see this. amazing to compare this old skool flavor with todays awesome cutting edge graffiti from here and all over the world. it belonged to new york once and now the whole world shares in this most unique art form. the author starts out by giving respect to the old philly scene, most notably cornbread and kool earl. but clearly jack stewarts intentions were to document the evolution of a renegade art form that few people realized was happening in the subway tunnels and train yards in new york city, brooklyn, bronx, and queens. so many old skool cats are represented here and a lot of these fella's (and ladies) were overlooked when graf blew up in the 80's. this book gives them their due. graffiti kings is sort of like the next chapter to john naar's magnificent the birth of graffiti. where as the birth of graffitis photos were a little on the arty side featuring an even mixture of trains, walls, playgrounds etc. graffiti kings is almost entirely trains. and again these are really good photographs. no blurry polaroids here. the first photo you will see in this book is the bathroom door in jack stewarts studio which is covered with a whos who of old skool bombers tags. a caption claims over 190 hits! it took me about fifteen minutes to get past the first page! this door belongs in the smithsonian. but then the trains come. and its just page after page after page of whole car wild styles, throw ups, and tags from tracy 168, fdt 56, blade, comet, clyde, ajax, cliff 159, butch, kindo, super kool, mono, etc, etc, etc. the book has numerous interviews with, and observations by many of the writers from that time. there is also mention of graffiti in the media news paper articles etc pertaining to that era as well. so in conclusion; if old skool is your thing then by all means pick up this book you will not be disapointed. if youre new skool see where it all began and be amazed by progress. five stars plus.

well what can i say.short and simple,this book is dope.worthy of your hard earned cash for sure.full colour flick after flick,great interveiws,even some old graff that i hadnt seen,so for me this was a great delite.being a huge fan of nyc graffiti,even more so subway nyc graff,this book scores a home run in my book.i had been waiting for months to peep it,and it was well worth the wait.also being a hardcover,you know this book will still be in top condition many years from now.if you like/love any sort of ol school nyc graff,then dont miss out on this book.you will not be disapointed.i cant even think of something i didnt like it,even the size of this book,fits snugg into your hands..lol.

Eye opener into the graffiti world

Book is in excellent condition. Packaged extremely well. A+ transaction.

If you are into graffiti art and graff history this is a good book to have. I was born and raised in NYC and to see these pictures brings me back to my childhood days. Very good content and good text to read.

Bought it as a gift, and he loved it! Excellent, like new condition!

Great book! Any fan of graffiti art and its origins must have this! Many train photos that i have never seen before and i have seen zillions! Excellent!

This book has one of the best and most interesting stories of the beginnings of graffiti in NYC. Tons of great pictures.

Ive only a recent interest [this year] in the art history of graffiti/street art and this is my third book - other two being Martha Coopers Tag Town and the Tate book on Street Art (cant remember author off top of my head); each insightful books that Im happy to own.I only recieved this yesterday so havent read everything, but my first impression is that this covers everything about early graffiti that Ill ever want to know.Hopefully amazon will let me load more than one picture; its pretty equal in terms of text and art. Everything is broken down precisely with lots of chapters to easliy highlight each movement/moment - I like some of the pages where theyve cut round the tag/piece to show it off on its own without being softened with other aspects of its environment. This is a recent(ish) book but the text is from academic essays from the auther in the 70's, which I'll explain a bit on, but dates some of the language that may not be PC today. Im probably the only reader to pick up on this as Im a bit too PC aware so it doesnt detract from whats here to be learned at all.The reason these are from 70's essays is because thats when the writer wrote them (duh), but although hes been put down as the auther of the book, this is actually a lovingly put together piece of work by his widow, which makes the book just that more charming. His widow doesnt say if she also had an interest in graffiti but this is clearly labour of love in memory of her departed, as she felt that not only would her husband love to see his work presented like this, but also that his insight into graffiti was too valuable to be lost with him.This makes it a delightful treasure chest for many reasons.~ * edit update * ~Im a third of a way through the book now - This really breaks down the origins of how graffiti grew. It helps you follow how design ideas travelled from Brooklyn to Philadelphia and vice versa; credits who was the first [known] to do swirls, add colour, do block letters, and how one person inspired another. It really helps you follow the journey from tags to masterpieces.

What a wonderful book...my partner received this as a christmas gift and loved it .... Good quality book with good illustrations ....and it arrived fast and in good condition :)

I have loads of books on graffiti but this one starts at the very beginning...a must have for any one whos interested in the movement!!!!!!!

This book is a serious study of the Old School Graffiti years. it starts in the late 1960's in Philadelphia, then moves onto New York.It is as important as book on Graffiti as has bee written, and has a lot of obscure and interesting information, plus many colour and black & white photos.An essential buy for anyone interested in Hip Hop linked Graffiti.

Bellissimo libro, arrivato nei tempi previsti, da avere assolutamente