Brooklyn Museum: Graffiti Exhibit

So I went to that graffiti event at the Brooklyn Museum the other night. The place was pretty crowded and the art being displayed was getting a lot of love, which was interesting/nice. I'm guessing I'm not the first person to think that graff loses some of its punch when it's hanging within the safe confines of a museum, right?

I think the highlight for me was seeing a looping video that included an interview with the ever loveable Basquiat. I'd never seen anything but images of him up until then, and it was fun to watch him being interviewed. There was a lot of junkie-esque arm-scratching and hunched-overness going on, which was painful to watch, but you could still his playful spirit, one part self-assured and blazingly smart, other parts cute, silly and cynical like you'd expect a 15-year-old to be. Sometimes I think about all that creativity that died long before its time during the 80s and 90s and it makes we wonder if it doesn't have anything to do with the mess we're in these days.

Below are a few of the show's highlights with the info on the artist listed below. Question, does "d." mean died?


^^Kwame More, a.k.a. Bear, (American, d. 1984)
Sunday Afternoon, 1984


^^Fred Braithrate, a.k.a. Fab 5 Freddy (American, b. 1959)
Mr. Potato Head, 1983


^^I screwed up and erased the image on my camera with the artist info, but I think this might also be by Bear.


^^John Matos, a.k.a. Crash (American b. 1961)
A-U-T-O-matic, 1985


^^The people love the Electric Side and will whip it out to dance to just about any music under the sun. Out behind the museum, there was a D.J. playing old-school hiphop. Lots of cute kids and families.