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Jamaica, Queens, New York in the mid 1980s. Rappers, celebrities and hip hop fans came from all over the city to get their own customized T-shirt by the Shirt Kings. The style traveled all over the world through record covers and music videos, and the Shirt Kings designs soon became synonymous with hip hop and the culture of making something out of nothing. Shirt Kings: Pioneers of Hip Hop Fashion looks at the early days of street wear through the lens of the pioneering group of artistic entrepreneurs known as the Shirt Kings. By adapting the graffiti skills from the trains and spray cans to shirts and airbrush they created a new look for a new generation. Edwin PHADE Sacasa is a founding artist of the group and it is through his archives that we are transported to the 1980s in New York City where the fashion was loud, colorful, and filled with cartoon imagery. But not just any cartoon imagery for the cartoons where urbanized. Mickey Mouse with a Fila suit, Casper the Friendly Ghost w

The birthplace of the style writing school of graffiti is New York City, where young artists transformed simple tags into elaborate masterpieces, featuring colorful letters and characters depicting friends and heroes. By the 1980s, authorities quickly destroyed this artwork, prompting artists to seek refuge in schoolyards to preserve their work. The most notable of these is in East Harlem, at 106th Street and Park Avenue, known as the Hall of Fame. Initially, it aimed to unite the best artists in the city, replacing the number 5 train as the premier showcase for graffiti art. As word spread, artists would sneak in at night to contribute to this unsanctioned museum. From early contributors like Skeme, Dez, and Daze in the 1980s to later artists such as Vulcan, Jon One, and Dome, the Hall of Fame evolved through the decades. The 1990s saw revitalization from Part, Ezo, and TDS, while the 2000s featured tight productions from crews like TC5, TDS, and TATS. This book documents the vibrant artwork created in this once-obscure schoolyard that became a legendary landmark. Join us in exploring this artistic retrospective of an iconic New York site.