I remember it like it was yesterday: I was just a little whippersnapper when the older guys on the ‘pleintje’ (neighborhood square) brought out some new book that they had just shoplifted from the bookstore and it had all these marvelous pictures in it. Up until then I had seen graffiti on walls and such, but none of it ever excited as much attention as what I was looking at over their shoulders right then and there. Page after page, neatly captured and layed out, whole cars decorated top to bottom with huge colorful letters and characters. This left a marked impression not only on me, but also on thousands and thousands of kids worldwide, what a visual impact! Subway Art, of course, would later become the aerosol bible basically. This important piece of work by Martha Cooper and Henry Chalfant now celebrates it’s 25th anniversary in a large-scale deluxe format and you should have a copy of it on your shelves… Just don’t shoplift it.
