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Charlie Ahearn
Basquiat Debbie Harry Rapture 1981 photograph by Charlie Ahearn

printed later

$1,800
£1,366.53
€1,563.02
CA$2,514.86
A$2,797.07
CHF 1,460.55
MX$34,037.42
NOK 18,653.39
SEK 17,493.59
DKK 11,665.40
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About the Item

Charlie Ahearn, "Rapture" 1981: A rare historic Jean-Michel Basquiat, Debbie Harry, Fab 5 Freddy photograph captured by Wild Style director Charlie Ahearn on the set of Blondie's "Rapture". This work was recently featured as part of the exhibition: 'New York, New Music 1980-86': Museum of the City of New York (2021). Medium: Archival Inkjet Print on heavy-weight paper. Overall dimensions: 16 x 22 inches (Image size: 13 x 20 inches). Hand signed & numbered on the verso, from a limited edition of 10. Excellent overall condition. Provenance: Obtained directly from artist. Literature: Featured in Writing the Future: Basquiat and the Hip-Hop Generation (MFA Boston pg. 74). More on Rapture: The music video made its U.S. television debut on Solid Gold on January 31, 1981, and became the first rap video ever broadcast on MTV. Set in the East Village, much of the video is a one-take scene of Debbie Harry dancing down the street, passing by graffiti artists, Uncle Sam, an American Indian, child ballet dancer, and a goat. Fab Five Freddy and graffiti artists Lee Quiñones and Jean-Michel Basquiat make cameo appearances. Basquiat was hired as DJ when Grandmaster Flash decided not to show. Artist Bio: Charlie Ahearn, best known as the director of the classic hip-hop film Wild Style (1982), arrived in New York in 1973 to attend the Whitney Museum of American Art Independent Study Program. Later he was joined by his twin brother, John Ahearn, and they became part of the artists' group Colab (aka Collaborative Projects, Inc). Ahearn showed his early films in an abandoned Time Square massage parlour that Colab had taken over on the corner of 7th Avenue and 41st Street (where Ahearn also lived from 1981 to 1993). Colab's 1981 art show - titled, "The Times Square Show" - is famous for introducing Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring among many others. In 1982, Ahearn directed Wild Style - universally hailed as the first hip-hop movie. Wild Style immortalized the birth of an underground hip-hop scene changing the face of music, fashion, art & popular culture forever. Ahearn's recent silkscreen paintings depicting hip hop culture’s seminal years were exhibited at PPOW Gallery in New York in 2017 & Beyond The Streets (2019 & 2020); with his photo and film work most recently exhibited at Writing The Future: Basquiat and the Hip-Hop Generation (MFA Boston 2020-2021); The Elements Of Style in Chendu China; and at the Contact High exhibition in Abu Dhabi 2020. Ahearn lives & works in New York City. Related Categories: Hip Hop. Graffiti. Subway Art. East Village artists. New York 1980s. Wild Style.
  • Creator:
  • Creation Year:
    printed later
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 16 in (40.64 cm)Width: 22 in (55.88 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    NEW YORK, NY
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU35438819532

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