WildStyle: Iconic Hip Hop Fashion Gen X to Gen Z illustrates the powerful influence of Hip Hop culture and all its expressive forms. “Wildstyle” was pioneered by the Mcs, B-boys/B-girls, DJs, and innovators to create a distinctive blueprint of innovative fashion and sentiments of liberation. From Members Only leather jackets coupled with doorknocker earrings, to the flyest hairdos and fresh cuts to Starter jackets, suede Pumas, African Medallions, Kangols, and Adidas tracksuits, to an era of colorful wigs, Girbaud jeans and crop tops with logo tees and Yankee fitted caps… In the early 2000s, we were introduced to shiny suits coupled with uptowns. 

Hip-hop’s exemplary swag and culture generated global phenomena. The selected works in this exhibition exemplify this artistic expression through a series of photographic images and media. Featuring images of Hip-Hop icons like Biz Markie, Slick Rick, and Method Man, as well as everyday people, illustrating the culture and celebrating the undisputed birthplace of Hip-Hop, The Bronx. With a focus on the intersection of fashion and Hip-Hop, featured works will span the early 80s to the present day and traverse the multilayered culture that is Hip-Hop. 

Anthony Artis uses the art of storytelling to forge a path documenting the music scene and has worked with Apollo Theatre, NYC Blue Note Jazz, and other notable artists and brands. Alex Bershaw, a documentary and portrait photographer explores the human experience while documenting events and style. Koren Martin employs a mixture of candid portraiture and immersive documentary photography. She has a passion for highlighting the beauty and strength of the African Diaspora.

Jamel Shabazz was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY. His iconic street-style photographs date back to 1980. Giving a glimpse into an era of Black communities at a time of much turmoil. Coreen Simpson is best known for her striking and fashionable portraits of African-American nightlife and B-boys and girls giving insight to the early 1980’s. Hidemi Takagi works with various immigrant and underserved communities usually working in series-based works. Works highlighted here are from her series The Barbershops and Identities.

Hip-hop has served as a vehicle of self-expression, creating sub-cultures like DJing, dancing, graffiti, and Emceeing. From its inception and in its five decades of existence, it has grown from a grassroots movement to the global phenomenon that it is today. With the help of the artists in this exhibition, we hope to commemorate the movement that is Hip-Hop as an ode to the retrospective of Hip-Hop’s flavorful ingenuity that has transcended the ages from GenX to GenZ.

About the Artists:

Anthony Artis – New York native, elevating and raising the joy of the people through his passion for the arts. After 15-plus years of experience, he continues to serve as a vessel to empower and tell our story of excellence within various cultural and community-based collaborations. Anthony is a highly sought-after story-teller who has shared visions of notable brands such as Disney Plus, The New York Times, Essence, Apollo Theatre, NYC Blue Note Jazz, Complex Magazine, Ebony Magazine, Cultured Mag, and Pattern Magazine, just to name a few. Anthony perfected his skills in photography in the field and at Parsons School of Design, graduating with a BFA in photography. Anthony is based in New York City and is available for hire globally. 

Alex Bershaw – As a Brooklyn-based documentary and portrait photographer, Bershaw explores the human experience and the world around us. Bershaw’s background as a man of color, adoptee, and Navy veteran drives his passion for visual storytelling, the examination of cultural norms, and societal narratives. His work seeks to reveal the essence of his subjects and challenge societal designations. Bershaw has traveled both nationally and internationally to capture biographical portraits, document class, and racial equality, and capture candid moments in time. His images invite the viewer to understand his perspective and convey the humanity, integrity, and truth that exists in all of us. Alex Bershaw’s photography has been featured in Voyage LA Magazine, Hudson Museum (digital), Urban Folk Art Gallery, Re-Inspire, Goorin Bros. Hats, Rolling Stone, DIS Micro Gallery, Joyce Gordon Gallery, Oakland, CA, Tibet House New York, NY), Wonder Wheel Records, Maya Records, MOB Journal, Late Fee Magazine, Elegant Magazine. 

Koren Martin – Is a photographer and arts administrator originally from Atlantic City, NJ. Koren’s work is a mixture of candid portraiture and immersive documentary photography.  She has a passion for highlighting the beauty and strength of the African Diaspora. Her current photo series “Birthing The Resistance” is a celebration of Black Mothers who are involved in activism.  She has received an honorable mention in MFON: Women Photographers of the African Diaspora, an exclusive and commemorative biannual journal committed to establishing and representing a collective voice of women photographers of African descent.  Her work has been featured in the anthology “How We Stay Free”, and the MFON  exhibition “Altar: Prayer, Ritual, Offerings.” Her work has been shown at Photoville, The Chrysler Museum Exhibition “Come Together, Right Now: The Art of Gathering”, Puffin Foundation Exhibition“Election, 020” and the Harlem Arts Alliance/CUNY-Black Studies exhibition “Black (W)omen: Seen It Before.” 

Jamel Shabazz – Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, Jamel Shabazz picked up his first camera at the age of fifteen and began documenting his communities, inspired by the work of photographers such as Leonard Freed, James Van Der Zee, and Gordon Parks. His work has been featured in numerous solo and group exhibitions nationally and internationally, including exhibitions at the Brooklyn Museum, The Studio Museum in Harlem, the J. Paul Getty Museum, and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, among others. These exhibitions have been accompanied by several celebrated publications including Back in the Days (2001) and A Time Before Crack (2005). Shabazz has worked as a teaching artist in institutions ranging from the International Center of Photography to the Bronx Museum’s Teen Council youth program. Shabazz was honored at the 2018 Gordon Parks Foundation Awards.

Coreen Simpson –  is a photographer and jewelry designer. She has been honored in both fields throughout her career. In 1978, as Assistant Curator of Photography at The Studio Museum in Harlem, she made dynamic portraits of fellow artists in her small office/studio. Making jewelry supported her art and in 1990 she created her signature collection ‘The Black Cameo® for women of color. It is the first American modern cameo pin honoring the strength, beauty, and resiliency of the black woman. Ms. Simpson’s images are represented in the Smithsonian National Museum of African-American Culture, Washington, D.C., Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.,  Museum of Modern Art and International Center of Photograph (ICP), New York, NY, Museum-Over-Holland, Amsterdam, Netherlands, Le Musee de la Photographie a’ Charleroi, Belgium and the permanent collections of The Studio Museum in Harlem;  Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, among other institutions… Ms. Simpson studied at F.I.T. and The New School, NYC.

Hidemi Takagi – With a strong history of working with various immigrant and underserved communities, Tagaki is a community-based photographer, visual artist, and social practitioner. As an immigrant from Japan, with a Haitian husband and biracial daughter raised in Brooklyn, Tagaki is interested in mixing history and local culture. For past photography projects, she engaged with multiple marginalized communities—to photograph the color, joy, and life of the people who are living in those diverse communities. Tagaji wanted to create something with a high value of meaningfulness for a handful of people who would be moved and feel grateful. Takagi participated in: The Sustainable Arts Fellowship by Gallery Aferro (2022), MoCADA & The Asian American Arts Alliance (2022)The Bandung 2022 Residency  (2022): Paradise AIR, and Artist Residency: Japan (2022). Her work has been reviewed in Time Out Tel Aviv, Time Out New York, the New York Times, and the Village Voice

ABOUT THE CURATORS:

Tarisse Iriarte – Tarisse Iriarte is an independent curator and arts activist from Brooklyn, NY with Afro Caribbean Roots in Cuba and Puerto Rico. She is simply known as “Tee” in her beloved Communities. Tee is what happens when a human loves art and community.  She is a proud Afro-Puerto Rican working diligently on the global liberation of her people across the diaspora through socially engaged art.  Tee curates exhibits that contextualize the intersections of diasporan arts across a socio-political landscape and works tirelessly to sow seeds rooted in liberatory praxis alongside a global community of artists, movement workers, and radical thinkers.  Tee is currently the Curator-at-Large for EnFoco.  She serves on the advisory board for ARTE (Art Resistance Through Education) and is a member of NALAC (National Association of Latino Arts & Culture) AAMC (Association of Art Museum Curators) and the Katal Center for Health Equity and Justice

Kay Hickman – Is a New York-based visual artist and curator. With an inquisitive eye, she offers a unique and empathetic perspective into everyday life. Her work largely focuses on documenting the human experience as it relates to identity, human rights, and health issues. Her curatorial practice identifies the same issues with a broader lens. Hickman’s work has been featured in The New York Times, TIME, Vogue, Financial Times, Ms. Magazine, and Photographic Journal: MFON Women Photographers of the African Diaspora. Hickman also Joined the Everyday Project’s Advisory Board where she works on various initiatives.

This virtual exhibition is a celebration of the 50th anniversary of Hip-Hop and references the iconic film, “Wildstyle,” directed by Charles Ahearn in 1982. The film is heavily regarded as the first Hip-Hop feature film. The original “Wildstyle” introduced the general public to a growing culture with a pantheon of seminal figures, and would later be recognized as one of the most influential depictions of New York City’s Hip-hop culture in the 1980s.

The term “Wildstyle” was popularized by the Wildstyle Graffiti Crew, formed by Tracy 168 in 1974, in the Bronx. Graffiti Culture was one of the four main tenets of Hip-hop culture in Wildstyle, along with Emcing, Breakdancing, and DJing.  Ahearn collaborated with artist, and Hip-hop pioneer, Fab 5 Freddy, to develop the film which was shot on location in the Bronx, and featured real-life graffiti artists, dancers, and rappers, many of whom appeared as themselves.  “Wildstyle” was an effort to represent a complete culture that blended music, dance, and visual art. 

“Wild Style” is available to watch for free on Tubi or Crackle, or with a subscription to Kanopy, and is available to rent on Prime Video, iTunes, and Google Play.