New York Graffiti Pioneers Write Up Wynwood Walls

Eric Firestone Gallery

​Tonight is the opening reception of Hyperbolic Aerosolic: The Roots of New York City Underground Art 1972-1975 at 2501 NW Second Ave. A couple of days ago, Miami native, gallery owner and show curator Eric Firestone gave us a brief tour and introduced us to the exhibition's stars, P.H.A.S.E. 2 and COCO 144,  writers who made the transition from bombing subway cars to drawing on canvases and on paper in a studio.

The duo were busy finishing up several new mixed media pieces they are incorporating into their 176-foot mural colloboration for Goldman's Wynwood Gates.

P.H.A.S.E. 2 used markers to draw this fearsome warrior at Wynwood Gates

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Dressed in all black, including a black skull cap and boxy black-framed sunglasses, P.H.A.S.E. 2 explained how he got roped into doing Art Basel for the first time. "I guess I got suckered into it," he joked. "On the real, I'm just doing what I do, know what I mean."

Kedem Dragon is a new mixed media piece by P.H.A.S.E 2

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P.H.A.S.E. 2 and COCO 144 were part of the United Graffitti Artists collective founded in 1972. Hyperbolic Aerosolic features several of the art pieces P.H.A.S.E. 2, COCO 144 and their fellow UGA crew members produced between 1972 and 1975. COCO was the first writer to use stencils on subway cars and P.H.A.S.E 2 is a founding father of the subway art movement.

The reception starts at 8 p.m. with music by DJ Apple Juice Kid