Mar 20 at 10:30 AM - Sale 2697 -
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Sale 2697 - Lot 44

Estimate: $ 600 - $ 900
(ART.) Graffiti photographs and sketchbook documenting the Philadelphia scene in the late 1990s. 122 color photographs, 4 x 5¾ inches, sleeved in an album; and sketchbook with 41 pages filled with sketches, tags, and doodles, 12 x 8½ inches; both albums decorated, photo album's boards separated from album block, otherwise minimal wear. Philadelphia, circa 1996-2000
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Additional Details

The photo album consists mostly of photographs of elaborate well-executed graffiti pieces in their native environment: underpasses, freight cars, tunnels, and the occasional wall of a city building. The work appears to be by many different artists, suggesting a photographer who was documenting a scene rather than their own work. Only one person is visible, in the last photograph: a hooded man with his back to the camera, just starting work on a blank wall.

The sketch book looks like it was shared among several friends, with varied signatures and styles ranging from rough scribbles to a carefully accomplished color design. One is a rough design for a sign: "Chaos! BMX Clothing Co., No Rest for the Wicked." A few of the designs are influenced by anime. One declares: "I'm drunk . . . mad drunk."

The album and sketchbook are unsigned and undated, but we find a few clues to put this work in context. On the cover of the sketchbook is a sticker for the grunge rock band Stone Temple Pilots, a design used in their merchandise in 1997. A few of the pieces in the photographs are dated, 1996 to 1999; one of the sketchbook designs bears a 2000 date. One of the sketches includes an address in the suburban Philadelphia neighborhood of Melrose Park. In the background of one of the photos, a sign for Philadelphia's Peirce College can be seen. We suspect that anyone active in this scene in the late 1990s would recognize many of the locations, much of the work, and have some ideas on the compiler.

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