Repainting Subway Art - Tripl / Furious
Repainting Subway Art - Tripl / Furious
Repainting Subway Art - Tripl / Furious
10 June - 27 August on show in MU.
A tribute to the front runners of graffiti.
With photos by Martha Cooper & Henry Chalfant.
Repainting Subway Art by Tripl/Furious is an intriguing example of how a simple joke can evolve into an ambitious project. Tripl/Furious, a Dutch graffiti writer who uses both aliases, started in 2013 with a challenging project - recreating all the train graffiti from the legendary book Subway Art, down to the smallest detail. It took him 10 years to complete, but the result is a monumental tribute to the original writers and photographers.
Subway Art, a book that features the work of graffiti writers from New York by the photographers Martha Cooper and Henry Chalfant, was published in 1984. It was instrumental in introducing graffiti to Europe in the 1980s and many writers in Europe consider it their most important inspiration. Subway Art has also contributed to the legitimization of graffiti as an art form and influenced the development of street art.
CC yard, The Bronx - Photo by Martha Cooper, 1982
Slinge Yard, Rotterdam - by Tripl/Furious
But Tripl/Furious takes it's influence even further. He photographed all the trains in the same way as Cooper and Chalfant did, and even recreated the photos where there was no graffiti. He made sure that every detail of the photos, including the clothing and artworks on the clothing and walls, was accurately replicated and incorporated, but with his own aliases, as is customary in graffiti culture. The level of precision and dedication that Tripl/Furious brought to this project goes way beyond a simple act of appropriation; so much that even Cooper and Chalfant have become supporters of it.
Style Wars by Noc - Photo by Henry Chalfant, 1981
Tryple RFA's - by Tripl/Furious
Tripl/Furious is a prolific graffiti writer from the Netherlands, known for his conceptual graffiti that are best experienced on Instagram. He has gained a large following for his creative use of social media and his unique style that blends traditional graffiti techniques with optical illusions. Tripl/Furious's work is focused mainly on train graffiti, and he is considered one of the most active graffiti writers in the Netherlands. His use of vibrant colors and bold lines make his work stand out on the train lines.
Epitaph by Lee - Photo by Henry Chalfant, 1980
Answer to Lee's Epitaph - by Tripl/Furious
Repainting Subway Art is on show from June 10th until August 27th.