Customer Reviews

Subway Art: 25th Anniversary Edition

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

There is no debating that the original printing of Subway Art , globalized the graffiti movement , giving our friends across the pond a detailed blueprint for letter forms, fresh from NYC's subway lines. In 2009 , there are a plethora of European spray paint companies catering to graffiti with an array of colors named after prominent artists in the culture. The period chronicled in this book (early 80's) is the most well-documented and some of the pieces are breath-takingly beautiful. The photography of Cooper, a pro and Chalfant , an amateur indistinguishable from a pro, show that two distinct styles can indeed co-exist with one another, despite Cap's words to the contrary. (Inside joke!)
The portraits of people are perhaps the strongest of the added material not included in the original version. Full page photos of Kase 2 with a menacing stare, a young Duster and Lizzie and a bat-wielding Dezzy Dez patrolling the 3 yard capture the era magnificently.
Several artists got added play in this new version of the old book and for the most it was the usual suspects (people who were down with Henry and Martha), giving a few of them a disproportionate amount of exposure versus their impact on this culture- a minor flaw, an oblivious public won't care about.
The book is physically huge and there are fold-outs of whole cars . Mitch 77 gets some long overdue love, as does one of the unsung heroes of the peace-loving , Central park bandshell- based version of RTW--RASTA.
Martha Cooper once ventured into the Esplanade Tunnel lay-up with Cap, Seen and myself to shoot action shots of a whole car in 1982. Damn! A quarter century went by fast.
She had huge stones to venture into the tunnel during that time period and although I don't endorse her Hip-Hop version of graff, I give her a lot of respect for that. Henry Chalfant has always been a class act and friend to the movement. If the old version of this book is considered "The Graff Bible", then this is definitely The New Testament.

Aiight, if anyone thinks that this isn't a GREAT "2nd Coming" of Subway Art, they're either Jaded or Jealous.
1st of all this book is no -8 1/2 by 11 toss it in yr backpack, bite it and wish you was that dope-type of experience. This FoMo is a genuine coffee table banger, with Clear Large Photos, some old/some new, but even the old ones are new: "Playing on a Wrecked Train" has a Blade Tag that I never seent before, and MIN One is in that Flick!!!WTF!!!I NEVER comprehended him there. That was ill-E to me, cuz like many I have scoured Subway Art for Everything it has. Now I look back and sho'nuff there he is.

Anyways for all the things I wanted to see(a couple more of the classic "Names" pages[there's one] or for instance a dedicated page for the apologies and mistakes like too cold and got chased[there's none])...well for all of my Wants and Wishes, the whole of this book Makes Up For It Like a Mountain Climber. In fact I've ordered another copy just to put in a plastic bag, cause this book Should be on the coffee table, and it Should be Kept with the spine unbroken, just for collectors sake.
The Only other issue is it seems the colors have been tweeked a lil bit to make the pics pop; no hate tho it's just a observation

5 Stars
easy
and Order it here now cuz this book is worth All of the $40 it's priced at. I'd actually say at least $50 for real.

What it Done is What it Do, FSwift been suggested this book for you. PLUS The Man-JSon's and Richie's Happy Holidays car is in full effect and looking mad spec-tacular..Crisp....=](nice review Brother, and Plus Props For Days


Bless

What would we have done without
the great Martha Cooper archiving this history?

It would've been LOST - that's it. Period.

We wouldn't have had this greatness preserved for posterity.

Her archival work - Her journalistic work - Her work as a historian -
are all invaluable. and this book - already a classic - to see it in
this deluxe, large format...was truly wonderful.

The pictures are breathtaking. and considering they can't be found
anywhere else - priceless.

This was a major part of urban & american history that would have been
whitewashed away if not for the valiant effors of Ms. Cooper and I thank
her for it. The book is truly 5 stars.

Awesome photography that shows the history and culture of the NYC start of the graffiti art form. Great book to have and add to your collection of one of the 5 Elements of Hip-Hop!

a must have for anyone who's a street art and/or hip-hop afficionado! truly a great buy, the anniversary edition has a preface that puts the graffiti art in a historical perspective

One of the first Graffiti ducument books out at that time, also known as the Graffiti bible! i highley recomend this book to any writer and any person who wants to know more about this culture of ours! ALOT of good shots.

if you have either a mild or intense interest in graffiti, this is a must have coffee table book.
the large format makes the original publication come alive like never before!

This was a significant time in the art world. Subway art open the door to artist who were kept our of main stream art world by ethnicity.

This book has some quite extraordinary photos. Those can be credited Martha Cooper, she was working for the National Geographic, and National Geographic makes excellent photos! Well she started hanging out with the ethnic minorities (brave girl!) in New Yorks seedy neighborhoods in the 70's and 80's and documented the birth of modern grafitti. Quite an extraordinary example of the very right person at the right place. Apparently she just did it for the fun of it, not realizing the her photos would be worshipped by writers (Grafitti artists) all over the world forever! The drawback of this book is that it has too little text, it could be interesting if the authors also had documented the birth of grafitti in word!