Blade

Many dozens of graffiti books have been published in the past fifteen or so years, and Blade has been in most of them - the story of graffiti without him is wrong. While graffiti writers around the world often visibly trace the lineage of their lettering style to to of Blade's very few peers in the history of New York subway graffiti, those who follow Blade seem to do so in spirit, in looseness, and in a sense of freedom and fun.

This book parallels the New York graffiti movement almost from its inception, moving through its glory years in the mid-1970s, when BLADE earned his title, and ending in the global art scene, where he remains a major presence. BLADE helped New York graffiti become internationally famous by making it look fun, and, for reasons of quantity, quality, and, perhaps above all, for sheer spirit, BLADE may very well be the most popular graffiti artist with his peers.

This book is signed and includes original artwork by Blade. Written by Chris Pape, Edited by Roger Gastman & Published by Schiffer Publishing.

Before New York City made graffiti world famous, Blade was one of he people who made it famous in New York. He made it famous by making it look fun, and when he made it look fun, every kid in New York wanted to have fun too. Blade's letters are readable, clunky and funky. Unlike most other kids, who were copying comic strip characters, the beasties, ladies and gentlemen that heralded Blade's pieces were original to him and full of charm. His color palettes were thought out and carefully planned, even though that meant a whole lot of work to maintain a paint stash.