Graffiti works dominated New York City in the 1970s as it was sprayed on buildings, trucks, cars, and of course, subways. Yet, as most of America had no idea what was happening in the Big Apple, one film, almost a decade after the art style began captured and documented the era perfectly. In 1983, director
Tony Silver released his street art documentary
Style Wars, which depicted battling artists as they crawled through dark tunnels, climbed high buildings, and left their mark on The City that Never Sleeps. It interviewed the artists like
Shy 147, Taki 183, Skeme, Cap, and others as well as their families and then-New York City Mayor
Ed Kotch who was against what they were doing. The film chronicles how the art form was born and then was brought out to the masses of the city and caught on before heading into art galleries where the artists became stars.
Style Wars was not just a time capsule into a bygone era it serves a look into how the form blossomed into today's art. After winning the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival,
Style Wars still serves as mandatory viewing for anyone who loves and lives this form of art.
