📷: ART IS THE WORD by ALIVE 5 (1981) © Martha Cooper For some, the prestige of working at Yale’s Peabody Museum of Natural History might be a lifelong goal, but Martha Cooper felt cooped up working behind a desk cataloging artifacts day in, day out. She yearned for freedom, action, and adventure — the […]
“I think people world rather see this,” ELLE tells ANIMAL, as she swaps a bus shelter ad with a monochrome self-portrait, swiftly and cheerfully. Just like that, she’s done and we head over to Brooklyn’s MECKA Gallery to meet the legendary street photographer Martha Cooper. Their collaborative art show “Unextinguished” opens this Saturday. For the show, ELLE […]
Here’s the “MARTY” mural that graffiti writers LADY PINK, HOW, NOSM, FREE5, TERROR161, CRASH, DAZE, BIO, and FREEDOM finished over the weekend. The mural was a surprise birthday present for legendary graffiti photographer Martha Cooper, who told ANIMAL that “It was more awesome than awesome.” It’s only there for a few days, so take a nice, […]
Today is Martha Cooper’s birthday. In tribute to the stalwart graffiti photographer, LADY PINK, HOW, NOSM, FREE5, TERROR161, CRASH, DAZE, BIO, FREEDOM and other graffiti writers are currently working on this mural, to be finished later today. The mural was a surprise. They told Martha to come by 12 and there it was. “It’s more […]
Above: Tony Hawk’s first skateboard. (📷: National Museum of American History) In the newish Tony Hawk documentary, the often-spotted but identity-mistaken skater casually mentions how he donated his first skateboard to the Smithsonian. It was a “Bahne skateboard with red Stoker urethane wheels on metal trucks” according to its listing in the government’s colossal collection […]
“It’s kind of creepy,” joked British street artist Nick Walker, 45, looking at a remarkably detailed figurine made in his likeness. The sculpture had just arrived yesterday at the Manhattan gallery space where his first exhibit in four years, “All I Ever Wanted Was My Name On Fire,” opens tonight. (Click the gallery above for a preview.) It depicts […]
Last night, an Instagram account ostensibly belonging to the NYPD Vandal Squad began following graffiti writers, photographers, and city institutions (they followed ANIMAL this morning). But even for the Vandal Squad — notorious among writers for their seemingly fanboyish attitude toward graffiti and willingness to steal photos — it seemed a little too brazen to be […]
Last night, someone went over COPE2‘s still-in-progress Bowery Wall with the word “snitch,” painting it in black fire-extinguisher lettering. When we arrived at the wall this morning, the writer was on a scissor lift fixing the work while iconic photographer Martha Cooper took photos. COPE2 appeared unfazed by the ragging. “It ain’t no thing,” he […]
Cheryl Dunn’s Everybody Street sets out to be a kind of definitive documentary on street photography, shadowing some of the most legendary practitioners — from Jill Freedman and Mary Ellen Mark to Bruce Gilden and Elliot Erwitt, as well as ANIMAL favorites Martha Cooper and Boogie. Its focus is their experience on the streets of New York […]
In 1978, when graffiti was still developing and demonized as a blight on the city, artist Martin Wong was already a fan. He’d just moved to New York and was working Pearl Paint supply store, befriending the teenage writers who were equipping their arsenal at the store. He started collecting their black books and later, […]
