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CHALFANT: Yeah. The city at that time in the ’70s was a very exciting place to be, because of all that was happening in the art and music scene around the city. He turned to photography and documented graffiti art and hip-hop during the ‘80s. Visitors came from different boroughs to see the exhibit and remember their childhoods growing up in the ‘80s in New York. There’s one picture of people actually playing handball on the court, which is covered with graffiti. Advertisement Alongside original images of the graffiti art, the exhibition also includes ephemera from the era, including a recreation of Chalfant’s studio and life-size train car prints. Transit, 1977-1987 Through March 8 at the Bronx Museum of the Arts, 1040 Grand Concourse; 718-681-6000, bronxmuseum.org . KEL CRASH by Kel and Crash, on the 7th Avenue Express, 1980. You had to chase them. Henry Chalfant. I could find out over breakfast if somebody had done anything and on what line they’d done it and on what side of the train they’d done it. I could get up and go to my favorite stations, which were Intervale Avenue and East Tremont, and catch whatever was on the 2 and 5 lines. In 2019 the exhibition traveled to the Bronx Museum in New York where it … They were happy for me to continue to document it, and I would share the photos with them. A short film, “Art vs Transit: The Photography of Henry Chalfant,” was also playing. Crash Paints “Henry Chalfant” on wall on the West Side of Manhattan and Canal St. 1980. I snapped the shots and then ran back to the platform and then went home, developed them, and spliced them together. I mean, I only got the tip of the iceberg. And after rush hour, a whole bunch of trains were taken off and parked in the yards. Courtesy Eric Firestone Gallery, New York. The system was random enough that you couldn’t actually count on being in the station when the train stopped on the other side with the masterpiece. It was very exciting to make those successfully, and it determined the rest of my time documenting how I would do it. The film, directed by David Jenkins, features Chalfant and graffiti artists talking about their art, and the experience of working together. It would improve my chances of catching something, because it wasn’t like I caught everything. Photographer Henry Chalfant was one of the most thorough documentarians of New York City subway graffiti, compiling an archive of some 1,500 photos of subway art and hip-hop culture across the Bronx during his career. “It’s a fantastic exhibit, because this was my childhood growing up during the ‘80s and playing outside with my brother, waiting for the trains to pass by to see the art.”. Your email address will not be published. Because I was even closer than from the other platform, the only way I could get it was snap, snap, snap, snap, take 10 pictures in segments. CHALFANT: A couple of times the police came to me and said, “You know, you can’t do this unless you have a permit.”, CHALFANT: You’d have to get a permit from transit on Livingston Street in Brooklyn, and I wasn’t anywhere near there. An accomplished sculptor, Henry Chalfant (American, b.1940) is best known for his photography and films that captured the Street Art of New York City. I can’t imagine how they played successfully because it would be really hard to see a ball coming at you out from that background. The subways of New York City in the 1970s were part of a transit system much different than the one we have today, one running on malfunctioning cars, plagued by circuit failures, and decorated with some of the most striking graffiti in the history of street art. There were lots and lots of muggings going on at gunpoint. It so increased my effectiveness, and of course they were happy to do it. He said, “You’re too old to be doing this.”. Transit 1977-1987” will be on view at the Bronx Museum until March 8, 2020. “Henry Chalfant: Art Vs. MARK BURGER: What initially drew you initially to photograph the street art and the graffiti so thoroughly? G-PZRLNDRS7T Henry Chalfant. I felt quite comfortable wandering around the South Bronx in the ’70s. BURGER: I love that when the artists realized what you were doing, they would reach out to you. “This was my childhood growing up during the ‘80s, I was one of the kids playing like the ones on the pictures,” he said. Do you feel like movies or television portray an accurate representation, or do you think it’s leaning too heavily into a rose-tinted glasses situation? When I got up to around Prospect [Avenue], I saw all the trains that weren’t being used were parked in the middle track. I had a machine in the studio. How am I going to do that?” So when I got to Intervale Avenue, I got off and I said, “I was just on this train, so there’s a good chance that it’s another five minutes before the next one comes along.” I ran down on the catwalk that borders the tracks, back in the middle where the cars were parked. Faux subway cars - gray cardboard covered with graffiti – and sounds of stations added to the immersive environment. Log in - Chalfant’s graffiti archives are a work of visual anthropology and one of the seminal documents of American popular culture in the late twentieth century. Chalfant has produced documentaries such as “Style Wars” and “From Mambo to Hip-Hop,” focusing on graffiti and the rise and fall of mambo and hip-hop music through different periods in Bronx history. That was a little scary. Or, if I’d heard of something on the 1 line, I could go up to 125th Street really quickly. There’s one picture of people actually playing handball on the court, which is covered with graffiti. I was deserving of both, I guess, depending on your point of view. How Henry Chalfant Captured the Striking Street Art of 1980s New York, CHALFANT: Yeah. When Henry Chalfant arrived in New York City from suburban Pittsburgh in 1973, as an aspiring sculptor, he found a place teetering on the verge of … You search on Instagram and you will see many pictures.”. While visitors contemplated the photos of kids dancing, playing and graffiti, ‘80s hip-hop music could be heard from a radio located in a corner, setting the tone of the exhibit. On one occasion, I was with some teenagers who were graffiti writers, and the cop was very hostile. The first one happened because I was on a foray up to the Bronx. The other thing about the mid-’80s was that there were sniper shootings going on rooftops. All Rights Reserved. I feel some of it myself. Go to Admin » Appearance » Widgets » and move Gabfire Widget: Share into that BigPicture-Share zone, Your email address will not be published. I would do that routinely, and then as I got to know artists, they would leave messages for me. And after rush hour, a whole bunch of trains were taken off and parked in the yards. Courtesy Eric Firestone Gallery, New York. You had to go back over and over and try to catch them. CHALFANT: Yeah, you go into the playgrounds, the kids are playing, and there’s this magnificent mural on the wall behind them. (Story by Yanibel Fernandez). Courtesy Eric Firestone Gallery, New York. Henry Chalfant. I can’t imagine how they played successfully because it would be really hard to see a ball coming at you out from that background. He said, “I come out here every Sunday to play handball, and I’ve long since learned that I have to bring a bucket of paint and a roller if I’m going to do that because you can’t play with that stuff in front of you.”. But just to give you a sense of what New York was like in those days, it was just festooned with these works of art everywhere you look when you were on the train line. Henry Chalfant: Un Mirada, a comprehensive retrospective of Chalfant's photography, was on view at the Centro de Arte Tomás y Valiente from September 27- November 18, 2018 in Madrid, Spain. Courtesy Eric Firestone Gallery, New York. CHALFANT: Yes, that was fun. The exhibit, at the Bronx Museum of the Arts, is curated by the Spanish graffiti artist SUSO 33, who previously has hosted other exhibits of Henry Chalfant’s photographs. BURGER: What is it like to see, all these years later, the images back together in one place? Well, just so you know, you need a permit to do this.” And so I said, “Okay, thank you.” Then I wouldn’t go get the permit and I’d be terrified that I’d run the same cop again, but I’d never did. Transit, 1977–1987, the first U.S. retrospective of the pioneering photographer, is on view from September 25, 2019 to March 8, 2020 at the Bronx Museum of the Arts. Powered by WordPress - A selection of 100 rare photos are on view at the Bronx Museum of the Arts as part of his retrospective, Henry Chalfant: Art vs. I thought, “Oh my god, I’ve got to get that. Summer Scene by FC Crew, Manhattan, 1985. Did you have any kind of routine? Before the opening, Interview sat down with Chalfant to hear what life was like shooting from train platforms, which stations were his favorite to visit, and how to avoid the cops. Another visitor and former graffiti artist BIE came to see the display with his son Evan from Brooklyn. It was nice. Dust Sin, 1980. Write us at. With the crack epidemic mid-’80s, things got a little dicey. Because I was an obvious figure standing on the platform for hours at a time, I began to feel nervous about that. You couldn’t get a blanket permit–you’d have to go and say you’re planning to go up on Friday, so you end up getting a permit for that one day. Or one, when you were shooting, that was a truly spectacular moment? He said, “What are you doing?” And I said, “Well, it’s a school project I’m working on with my teachers and these are for blah, blah, blah.” And he said, “Okay, sir. At the beginning I thought, “Well, this is a dumb way to do it because you can’t ever get them really exact.” This is before digital splicing can get them correct.

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