In the late 1960’s, 70’s and 80’s, graffiti was considered ugly, illegal, and a nuisance.
Today, graffiti is now considered art that is even being collected by museums around the world. Galleries regularly do exhibitions of graffiti artists. These shows are mostly done with individual graffiti artists, or a bunch haphazardly grouped together.
As it is great that this art form is finally being taken seriously, unfortunately the history of graffiti is lapse in these shows or misrepresented.
In this “MAFIA Crew Reunion” exhibition, curator George Spencer looks to shed light on the history of NYC graffiti crews in the early 1970’s to the mid- eighties. There were dozens of these crews in all five boroughs of N.Y.C. but some stood out more than others.
M.A.F.I.A. was one of those graffiti crews. DON 1 from Astoria Queens started this crew in 1976. Some of the members were Inca, Gear, KR one, NOC 167 among others. Some of the members went on to have their own well-know art careers.
ON VIEW:
Friday, July 1st from 3-6PM
Saturday, July 2nd from 12-3PM
Thursday, July 7th from 3-6PM
Friday, July 8th from 3-6PM
Saturday, July 9th from 12-6PMN
OPENING RECEPTION:
Saturday, June 25, 2022 from 6-8PM
CURATED BY:
George Spencer
This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.
