Style Wars

Jan 18, 2013 @ 8:00pm

With Q&A by producer Henry Chalfant
In the 70s graffiti artists would gather around DeWitt Clinton High in the Bronx which was just blocks away from the Transit Authority yard where subway cars were stored. With spray paint and felt tipped pens they would create guerilla art on the cars. The impulse to “tag” and leave one’s mark or name may arise out of a need to proclaim one’s existence and identity in an environment which doesn’t leave many possibilities for finding status or upward mobility. What better way to get your presence known then write it on a subway car which goes through the entire City? When director Tony Silver and co-producer Henry Chalfant delivered the broadcast version of their prize-winning film to PBS in 1983, the world received its first full immersion in the phenomenon that had taken over New York City. The urban landscape was physically transformed by graffiti artists who invented a new visual language to express both their individ- uality, and the voice of their community. Style Wars chronicles an extraordinary epoch of youthful creativity and civic controversy. In this film we see New York’s ramshackle subway system as the young artists’ public playground, battleground, and spectacular artistic canvas. Opposing them were Mayor Ed Koch, the police, and the Transit Authority. As MC’s, DJ’s and b-boys rocked the city with new sounds and new moves, street corner breakdance battles turned into performance art. Dancers featured are Crazy Legs from Rock Sready Crew and Frosty freeze, and some of the many writers include: Crash, Daze, Dondi, Seen, Futura, and Kase.