Photo by Martha Cooper

Over at her blog on 12ozProphet, Martha Cooper has a series of photos documenting the work of Katsu, Blade, Rime, Freedom and Os Gêmeos at MOCA. Cooper had a behind-the-scenes look at how things transpired after Katsu hit the MOCA building with a fire extinguisher tag just a few days before Art in the Streets was due to open inside. That night, the wall was buffed, and then it looked like this:

Photo by Martha Cooper

Of course, that wouldn’t do. Os Gêmeos had been scheduled to paint a mural on that wall, but they decided that they did not want to go over Katsu, which is how they ended up painting the MOCA ticket booth. A replacement had to be found.

Similar to the wall that Lee Quinones, Futura, Cern, Push, Risky and OG Abel collaborated on just on the other side of the building which had originally been the site of Blu’s buffed mural, repainting over Katsu’s spot would have to be a collaborative effort. Freedom sketched a tribute piece to Blade, using some of his most iconic images. A few people painted the outline of the Blade tribute, and Rime came in to add the color. For more detail on the story and images of the entire process, check out Martha Cooper’s blog.

Photo by LindsayT

I don’t want to say that Blade does not deserve a tribute mural (he is one of my favorite early writers, particularly for the very piece that makes up the core of this tribute mural), but I think it is telling that no one writer would go over Katsu alone. MOCA has every right to do what they want with their own walls, which is why I don’t think the covering of Blu or Katsu’s pieces should be considered censorship, but I definitely wish that Katsu piece had stayed. The man is at the top of his game and a trailblazer in 21st century graffiti, so he deserved mention in the show as part of the next generation of great writers, and it just would have given the show a gritter feel. On the other hand, I don’t want to begin to imagine the problems that keeping that piece would have caused… At least Blade got some added props in the show and Os Gêmeos still painted something.

Photos by Martha Cooper and LindsayT

Blade sketch

The American Folk Museum (AFAM) is one of my favorite places to visit when I’m in New York. I’ve always found something a bit strange though: this NYC based museum dedicated to self-taught artists has never done anything related to graffiti. Until now. This summer, AFAM is putting 4 old-school graffiti writers in an exhibition in Venice during the Venice Biennale. Vision and Vernacular: Eight African-American Artists in Venice includes four self-taught graffiti writers selected by Carlo McCormick: Blade, Quik, Daze and Sharp. Each artist will make an installation at the Fondaco dei Tedeschi. The show runs from June 1st-15th. This show should be really interesting, especially in contrast to the rest of the Biennale, and is definitely a giant leap forward for AFAM by acknowledging graffiti.

In a seemingly odd match, the exhibition is sponsored by Benetton, as in United Colors of Benetton, but hey, whatever gets the job done done!

Image courtesy of AFAM

Henry Chalfant and Martha Cooper took the photos for the legendary graffiti book Subway Art, and Blade is one of the writers featured in the book. I think these interviews with them were filmed at a show that the three of them were involved with earlier this year in Paris. It’s a cool video if you love classic graffiti (and Wu-Tang Clan’s music).

Via Senses Lost