Shepard Fairey

Shepard Fairey Led Zeppelin screen-print

2012

Original Mudd Club poster, New York 1979: A must have for any true Jean Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring collector - this piece is featured in the 2017 Jean-Michel Basquiat documentary, 'Boom For Real.' Promotional poster. 1979. Dimensions: 18x24 inches. Very good overall vintage condition condition; some minor fading consistent with age. Provenance: Obtained directly from the original art designer. The Mudd Club was founded by filmmaker Steve Mass, art curator Diego Cortez, and downtown punk scene figure Anya Phillips in 1978. Mudd Club featured an art gallery curated by Keith Haring on the upper floor. Live performances by New York No Wave bands such as, DNA, the Contortions, Talking Heads & Basquiat's band Gray. On the dance floor, DJs, Anita Sarko and Johnny Dynell played an eclectic mix of punk, funk and curiosities. From the start it functioned as an antidote to the uptown disco glitz of Studio 54. Six months after it opened, the Mudd Club was mentioned in People: "New York's fly-by-night crowd of punks, posers and the ultra-hip has discovered new turf on which to flaunt its manic chic. It is the Mudd Club ... . For sheer kinkiness, there has been nothing like it since the cabaret scene in 1920s Berlin". After its first few years, Studio 54 celebrities like Andy Warhol, Grace Jones and David Bowie began to show up. In 1981, the Mudd Club's Steve Mass began showing up at the more informal Club 57 on St. Mark's Place, and began hiring Club 57 regulars including Keith Haring to help attract the downtown art & music scene. The Mudd Club was frequented by many of Manhattan's emerging emerging cultural figures, such as, Lou Reed, Johnny Thunders, David Byrne, Debbie Harry, Arto Lindsay, John Lurie, Nico with Jim Tisdall, Lydia Lunch, X, the Cramps...

Dondi White, Futura, Lee Quinones, Crash, Daze, Lady Pink & Zephyr: Celebrating 15 Years Above Ground (1995): This rare, complete portfolio of 7 hand-signed limited edition screen-prints, was published on the occasion of the 1995 exhibition, Celebrating 15 Years Above Ground: a historic event exploring the evolution of 1980’s New York graffiti legends: Crash, Daze, Dondi, Futura, Lee Quinones, Lady Pink, and Zephyr. The seldom seen complete set of 7 works accompanied by both original portfolio covers, makes for a standout addition to any 1980’s New York graffiti collection. Medium: 7 individual screen-prints in colors on fine, deckle-edged Stonehenge paper; plus a screen-printed portfolio cover on heavy matte paper. 1995. Each work individually measures: 14 x 11 inches (35.6 x 27.9 cm). Each hand-signed & numbered in pencil by the respective artists from an edition of 100 (5 works signed & numbered frontside; with Futura & Lady Pink signed & numbered on the reverse). Condition: Prints: Some very minor signs of handling; rubbing on the right lower edge of Zephyr; in otherwise very good overall vintage condition as pictured. Superb overall print quality & color separation. Fine archival paper. Portfolio casing (last image) contains some minor signs of aging & handling. Collections: The Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Dondi White: Dondi was an American graffiti artist best known for his dynamic lettering and stick figures. His work, whether painted on canvas or on walls, is characterized by a dynamic energy and explosive use of color. Dondi became associated with a group of legendary artists working in the East Village, including Futura, Keith Haring, and Jean-Michel Basquiat. His canvas works reiterated the lettering, symbolic icons, and stick figures that were his signature marks on the streets, while his later work from the 1990s included collages that juxtaposed pencil drawings with blueprints of the subway system—which had previously served as his canvas. Futura: Futura 2000 is a contemporary American graffiti artist. Over the course of his career, he transitioned from making New York-based subway graffiti in the early 1970s, to exhibiting at Fun Gallery in the 1980s alongside major artists such as Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring, and Kenny Scharf. He went on to collaborate with the punk band The Clash, designing their album art and performing live graffiti during their concerts. Today, McGurr’s work can be found in the collections of the Museo de Arte Moderna di Bologna, the Musée de Vire in France, and the Museum of the City of New York. Lee Quinones: Lee Quinones is an American-Puerto Rican artist known for the graffiti he made on New York subway cars during the 1970s and 1980s. Quinones addressed political and cultural issues through his graffiti, with quotes such as “Earth is Hell...