'Double Deep' By: BLADE (2020)

Title: 'Double Deep' By: BLADE (2020)
Medium: Acrylic Spray Paint & Posca Pens on NYC Subway Map
Size: 32" X 23"
Details: (1 of 1) Original, Signed & Dated
Valuation: £1,100 GBP
Chosen Charity: Save The Children

Born on January 23rd, 1957, BLADE (aka Steven David Ogburn) began writing on the trains in NYC in 1972, he painted his first train in the Bronx when he was only 15 years old – he then became one of the most prolific Street Artists of his generation creating over five thousand pieces throughout the Big Apple between 1972 and 1984.

Nicknamed “The King of Kings”, he founded the TC5 (Crazy five), one of the most famous groups in the history of Graffiti, which worked on the Metro lines 2 and 5 running from New York’s Bronx to Brooklyn.In terms of styles, he created overlapping 3D letters in 1975 and Blockbuster Letters in 1977. If you see the Subway Art book (Henry Chalfant & Martha Cooper), his best pieces are there, documented for all time!

In 1980 BLADE did some of his greatest whole cars,these cars were as much about concept as they were characters. His walking-letter car (one of the most iconic trains ever painted) had nicely rendered clouds in the background when viewed from the streets, the painted clouds merged with the real ones, his letters seemed to walk through the air.

He then had his first show in Europe in 1981 BLADE where he began working in other media including spray paint, markers, and acrylic on canvas, producing artworks suitable for indoor exhibitions that have brought him worldwide recognition, BLADE also produces many Abstract pieces of art as well and he was the first living artist to grace the cover of Sotheby’s in Amsterdam since Andy Warhol.

BLADE has travelled the world and been in the best museums (Whitney in NYC, Gronigen Museum in Amsterdam, Boijmans Museum in Rotterdamn, Netherlands, MOCA in LA).

@Blade