Save the Date Aug 30: Blade, Freedom Bring NYC Graf to 7th Letter

New York graffiti legend Blade hits LA with his new book Blade: King of Graffiti, and the opening of his first LA solo show at 7th Letter August 30th, with Blade signing his book from 6pm to 8pm.

By 1980, after painting 5,000 wildly creative trains, Blade stopped counting, and kept painting. This exhibit–Blade’s first solo show in Los Angeles–features new large-scale spray paint and paint marker artworks on canvas and NYC subway maps. Inspired by his own characters, letters, colors, and abstract imagery from some of his own subway train masterpieces from the 1970’s, the collection of artwork is a throwback to his innovative style that influenced generations of contemporary artists all over the world.

Blade will be signing his book,Blade: King of Graffiti, written by Chris Pape (aka Freedom), which recounts the highs and lows of Blade’s graf career, and is full of photos from his four-decade history. Freedom will also be there with his own show, The Rochester Series, a collection of 12” x 16” paintings on wooden panels, larger works on canvas, and traditional NYC wild style piecebook drawings reinvented with added collage.

Freedom’s name became cemented in graffiti history when he painted what became known as the Freedom Tunnel from 1980 – 1996. The tunnel underneath NYC was once Freedom’s personal hall of fame, featuring many of his silver and black spray paint masterpieces, which included recreations of great artworks from history to specifically homage the importance and influence they have on graffiti art. The city of New York and Amtrak have since buffed much of the Freedom Tunnel but FREEDOM has found another a tunnel to paint in Rochester, upstate New York, and his show at 7th Letter draws on his Rochester tunnel work.

This important graffiti show runs through September 14 at 7th Letter, 346 N. Fairfax Ave, Los Angeles 90036