Burners- Henry Chalfant- USED

Description

Title: Burners
Pages: 184
Language: English
Published: Sept. 2006
Dimensions: 30 x 1.1 x 14 cm/  11.8 x 0.43 x 5.5 Inch
Condition: Cover: 9/10 Inside: 9.5/10

Documentation of 40 different window-down whole cars that Henry Chalfant hadn’t yet published even though by 2006 some of these pics were more than 3decades old.
Thank You Mr. Chalfant!

This collection of 40 fold out panoramic flicks of full cars painted from the window down to the bottom of the subway car itself by painters such as Resk, Zephyr, Seen, Skeme, Quik and a GRIP of others is gorgeous. This collection is highly recommended for collectors of graffiti art and memorabilia, and basically any graffiti artist out there who longs for the days of O.G. subway art, and for NYC Before The Buff.

After “Art is not a crime” in 2004, Henry Chalfant is back in Paris for “Burners”, his new exhibition at the Willem Speerstra gallery. Is it necessary to introduce the artist ? Co-author of Subway Art [Henry Chalfant & Martha Cooper, Subway Art, Thames & Hudson, 1984] and Spray Can Art [Henry Chalfant & James Prigoff, Spray Can Art, Thames & Hudson, 1987], co-producer of the movie Style Wars [Tony Silver, Style Wars, 1983, published on DVD by Plexifilm], he is the man who has revealed New York Graffiti to the world. “Burners” are forty photographies of window down burners [pieces painted under the windows] taken by the photographer in the beginning of the Eighties in New York and selected from the hundreds that form his collection. Some of them were never exhibited before.

Henry Chalfant has asked Skeme to present what a burner is. The writer gave this explanation: “a burner is a piece that makes you stop whatever you’re doing and take a long look; a burner is so named because its image is burned on your brain until the next time you see it runnin’, or the flick you took of it is developed; a real burner will make you run down the station and follow a train til’ it gets small; a burner has the following elements; it is almost always identical to the outline you did the night before, it’s partly illegible, has bold flamboyant colors and color scheme, at least two backgrounds…clouds, toxic spill, checka’ board…, and nothing is neglected, there’s detail even in the 3-D; it may be framed by a character or two, but can stand alone without one…a real burner will make you compliment even your greatest enemy on the line, even if it is secretly; a real burner is talked about for weeks, if its super hot, for months, and if it was legendary…it’s still makes for good conversation in 2006. But, the very best burners have a good racking or raid story to go with em, cuz after all, graff ain’t just illegal, it’s an adventure!”.

Apart from Skeme, Burners puts together among others pieces from Sonic, Ink, Duro, Kel, Crash, Zephyr, Revolt, Jonone, Mare, Dealt, Spade, 2 Much, Scan, Word, Tech, Base, Tkid, Min, Colt, Reck, Pose, Dust, Seen, Mean 3, Elkay, Doc, Pore, Dust 1, Kist, Pre (Dondi), Rac, Cem 2, Sword, Tech, Notch, Scop… Henry Chalfant wanted to present a few writers to date less published than some of the famous names that we find on the photographies and also to exhibit pieces taken in Brooklyn and not in Manhattan or in the Bronx.

His selection is simply astonishing. Every style is represented, in an explosion of flow and colours adorned with tags, commentaries and dedications to discover on the cars. The master’s photographs, which give a fantastic reproduction of the subways’ patinas and, on some of them, let see the rhythm of the environment, are magnificent. Thanks to Henry Chalfant, once again, it is a considerable part of the Graffiti adventure that is given to us to see and admire. A rare moment, not to be missed. © Emmanuel Moyne / Henry Chalfant / Speerstra Gallery

In “Burners”, Henry Chalfant presents 40 full-color window-down subway paintings from the early 1980’s. Window-down means underneath the train’s windows. The book is a spiral bound catalog from his show at the Speerstra Gallery, which makes it somewhat fragile. Best viewed on a flat surface. Each page folds out to display a single, digitally enhanced train car in its entirety. We love that each page includes the number of the car. It is a beautiful presentation and every page is a surprise. This unique presentation gives the reader a sense of just how massive the train era was and how overwhelming and epic it was to see one of these giant metal canvases roll into a subway station early in the morning. If you are a student of the 1970s New York City graffiti movement this book demonstrates that although not every graffiti painting is a finished masterpiece, you can still get valuable insights and information from studying all the artworks in graffiti’s 40-year long history. – Graffiti Diplomacy