The Graffiti 1980 Studio:

Sam Esses was the father of a girl I knew when I was a teenager. One night in 1979 Sam was invited to dinner at the home of a gallery owner. The gallery owner had recently started working with the graffiti artist Lee and Lee had just painted his terrace. Seeing the terrace was Sam’s introduction to graffiti art, and he was instantly smitten.

By 1979 kids had been painting NYC subways for eight years. Sam knew that the subways had graffiti but he didn’t know much about it. He went home and told his daughter about Lee’s work. She told him that she knew some graffiti artists. Sam said he wanted to meet them.

When I got the invitation I was a little nervous. I phoned my friend Rasta and we headed over to the posh apartment. We sat down and showed Sam photos of our pieces. He loved our stuff and said that it shouldn’t be cleaned off the trains. Next thing we knew, we were talking about ways to preserve the work.

Sam decided to create a studio where we could paint on canvas. At that time (Spring 1980) canvas was new to us; subways were our medium. So with the help of my friend Futura, we organized the Graffiti 1980 studio. We spread the word that anyone was welcome to come and paint there. Futura and I stretched huge canvases and kept the studio stocked with spray paint (we never knew who might drop by).

Once the word was out magic started to happen. All the great graffiti artists of the time came and painted, met each other and networked. Prior to that time a lot of us only knew each other’s work; we hadn’t met each other. There was Dondi and his boys from way out in Brooklyn, and Seen and the UA crew from the opposite end of the city (they were from Pelham, up at the north end of the Bronx). Back then these neighborhoods seemed worlds apart. At that time it wasn't considered strange that many of us didn’t know each other. By today's standards it might seem odd, but back then it was different, we were pretty isolated from each other. The Graffiti 1980 Studio changed all that.

And after a day of painting canvases at the studio we’d all go out and paint trains together. We were inspired; our creative juices were flowing. Seen began painting subways with Kel. Dondi did some pieces with Kase. I teamed up with Noc. It was a great time.

Over 30 canvases were painted at the studio and around the same time many other things started happening. The media became very interested in graffiti and a lot of new opportunities cropped up. Magazine articles and gallery exhibits were suddenly commonplace. As new opportunities emerged so did new incentives. We found ourselves in a world aboveground. In so many ways the Graffiti 1980 Studio is where the early 80’s renaissance began. The studio was a pivotal point, a magical moment in New York’s graffiti culture.