This photography exhibition celebrated the work of Henry Chalfant Living in New York City in the early seventies and eighties. Chalfant befriended the newly emerging Graffiti artists who were painting the subway trains. The city was run down and there was rampant crime and homelessness. Businesses left the city leaving behing areas with problems of drugs and homelessness. The subway system reflected this period of decay with fewer people willing to risk journeys due to crime and train breakdowns. Young people started spray painting the trains in the depots. This upset New Yorkers who did not like the tagging of the subway trains as to them it epitomised the depth of decay.
I remember visiting Manhattan in 1980 and 1988. There were still no-go areas such as the area around Alphabet City and I visited St Patrick’s cathedral the day after a killing in the church. But I do remember the exciting and energetic Greenwich Village gay parade that took place during my visit in 1988. There was a feeling of new life and the city was regenerating and rediscovering itself.
Roll forward 40 plus years and the young spray painters are now world-renowned artists. The exciting music scene of Hip Hop sprung out from this period.
The Epic Story of Graffiti was held in one of the empty department stores in the Bullring. This was brought to Birmingham by Birmingham Hippodrome and Soul City Arts. On opening night, this colourful exhibition brought Chalfont to Birmingham and the pictorial history of graffiti and hip hop was celebrated. The exhibition was curated by one of our very own street artists, Muhammed Ali Aerosol. I visited on a quiet mid-week morning and had the place to myself. A visually striking display of countless trains tagged with graffiti was on a long display board. I found it fascinating looking at all the artistic designs sprayed on the trains. Chalfont had paid attention to small details such as lining up all the trains in numerical order.
There were pictures of the young artists and moving displays that made you feel as if you were in an underground station. I sat and watched a video about hip hop and interviews with the young New Yorkers excitedly telling the interviewer about their life. I also enjoyed reading the quotes that were placed around the exhibition.
I had spent time before the exhibition opened photographing the Graffiti in Digbeth so I was in the right space to appreciate the brilliant photography of Henry Chalfont and what the exhibition had to offer. There is a further in depth review by BBC Birmingham.
Finally a nostalgic view of the streets of NYC from 1980 when I visited as I student.
I love to photography Graffiti and Digbeth offers the best of the street art in the City. Here is one of my blogs on Digbeth.
