Double appointment with an exceptional guest for the 2015 Edition of the Lotras Project Kings of Green, organized in collaboration with Globcom/Whole Train Press.
The main protagonist of the awaited cultural event was this year Steven Ogburn, a worldwide artist, better known as ‘’Blade’’ who is an eminent /distinguished person of the Writing made in New York.
Blade was from June 10 to 12 at railway Terminal Lotras in Foggia with the purpose of painting the Railway wagons that will enrich ‘’the wagons park of the travelling museum’’ whereas on Saturday, 13 June he participated at the opening ceremony of his personal exhibition, called ‘’ New York in Gargano – Blade King of Graffitti ‘’, which was set up at the Turistic Harbour in Manfredonia - Marina del Gargano.
The exhibition coordinated by Marta Gargiulo and Massimo Scrocca, was open till Sunday, 12 July, proposing for the first time all Ogburn ‘s works that concern his artistic path, together with a photographic exhibition, showing even some original material from the 70’s, mentioned in the volume ‘’ Graffiti in New York’’ written by Andrea Nelli.
It has represented a real close examination about the lettering that has distinguished Blade’s works until today. It has revealed a transversal look, able to restore vitality and sensations of those years, revitalizing all ferments, that have determined the beginning and the develop of different artistic cultures: from Music, fashion to Graffiti.
Steven Ogburn is in fact the precursor artist of one of the cultural movements, coming from the street, son of the underground. He is one of the first artists to have understood that Art is mainly sharing from the places, where it is possible to realize it: For this reason, the city walls and the underground wagons become a white painting, on which he works can be created to be available for everyone. To reach the popularity in the 80’s, it was required to choose a viral method, therefore Blade went to the underground storages in new York, where despite of the total illegality, he transferred his artistic thought into 5000 wagons, to the point to become popular and to be recognized all over the world and not only from the fans of the genre.
This strong presence in the underground lines allowed him to be one of the protagonists of one of the most important moments in the Writing history. In fact the release of the Subway art book in 1984, written by Martha Cooper and Henry Chalfant, has become an authentic reportage on the creation and spreading of this urban poetic. Today Blade is in some cult places of the contemporary art, like MOCA and his works are acquired on the most important collections of cultural platforms like Palais de Tokio, in order to confirm the importance of the Writing language in the Art environment and in the contemporary society. The Writing is in fact a cultural movement from more than 40 years, since it’s the mirror of our today’s living: dynamic fast, of the impact.
As Domenico de Girolamo – Marketing and Development Director in Lotras and initiative organizer stated, Steven Ogburn’s presence in Foggia and in Manfredonia has represented not only our effort towards the cultural activities and the environmental sustainability, but also a way to keep alive the attention on the importance of the Logistics for the territory development, through colors and shapes of Blade’s works that symbolically bridge Foggia and Manfredonia, confirming all the validity of a unique logistic platform among port and industrial dry port areas.
Steven Ogburn, was born in New York in 1957, grew up in the Bronx, where the signature BLADE 70s began making graffiti, participating in the birth of a cultural movement, the Writing, which in time would become a fundamental piece of history contemporary art.
BLADE between 1972 and 1984 he painted more than 5,000 trains, which cross with his name and his style throughout New York City, earning it the title of King of Graff among his friends and peers. Its crew of belonging is the TC5, stands for The Crazy 5, present mainly on lines 2 and 5 of the metro, which pass in neighborhoods like: Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan and Central Park. In 1981 he took part in the show BLADE New York / New Wave to the PS1 Gallery in New York, which at the time was not the contemporary museum today, but a space occupied self-managed. The event went down in history for the participation of key artists of contemporary art, names like JM Basquiat, Keith Haring, Dondi, Seen, Lee Quinones and many others. Subsequently BLADE also exposes the Fun Gallery in Manhattan. In 1984, BLADE is among the protagonists of Subway Art, famous catalog that boasts as the two authors photojournalist Martha Cooper and Henry Chalfant, who undertook a genuine exploration, faithful and thorough about these new heroes of the road, precursors of a cultural movement completely revolutionary in its mode of expression, now world famous cult text about the origins of Writing.
Since the late 90s, BLADE with his work crosses the threshold of the museum circuit from New York via Australia, California, France, Denmark, Holland. BLADE has exhibited in the exhibition Art In The Streets, held in the spaces of the MOCA (Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles) in 2011.
