image from the book, Vandal Squad, courtesy of powerHouse Books

In conjunction with powerHouse Books’ publication of Vandal Squad: Inside the New York City Transit Police Department, 1984-2004, the powerHouse Arena will host an open forum between former members of New York City’s infamous Vandal Squad and graffiti writers, with the intent of opening discourse on issues regarding the methods that the Squad employs and their impact on the lives of the writers themselves. Panelists include Vandal Squad author Joseph Rivera, former Commanding Officer Lieutenant Steven Mona, original Vandal Squad Lieutenant Ken Chiulli, graffiti legend COPE2, graffiti activist Ket, and street artist ELLIS G. The event will be moderated by Stern Rockwell.

Founded in 1980, the Vandal Squad’s mission was to protect the subway system from hardcore criminal acts of destruction. It was only with the Clean Car Program of 1984 that graffiti became the primary focus of this specialized unit. Using every means available, including the NYPD computer database, search warrants, subpoenas, and even vandals themselves, the Squad had to identify and locate graffiti writers who were often so transient they were referred as “ghosts”. These strategies, as well as concerns about the publication of the book, will be the focus of the conversation. 7-9pm, free. RSVP required.

Tags: arena, books, COPE2, ELLIS G., graffiti, Joseph Rivera, Ken Chiulli, Ket, NYPD, powerHouse, Stern Rockwell, Steven Mona, subway, transit police, vandal squad.

I remember my first encounter with James Castle’s handmade books in college, at the AIGA gallery on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. The carefully printed, often reversed alphabets and illustrated block panels on found paper, ads and magazines gave the sense that I was looking at rare artifacts from a universe parallel to our own. They seemed like personal journals, graphic novels recorded by an alien scribe observing our world from a distance, and in a sense, this was the case. Deaf since birth, Castle chose imagery over speech as the primary method of understanding and communicating with the world around him.

James Castle, Untitled, 20th c. (calendar/double sided). 8.5 x 10" Courtesy Greg Kucera Gallery

The documentary film, James Castle: Portrait of an Artist, by writer-director Jeffrey Wolf, produced by the Foundation for Self-Taught American Artists, is one of the highlights of the artist’s recently-opened  retrospective at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Wolf’s documentary gives an insightful introduction into Castle’s life, and a well-organized overview of his work. The film includes interviews with Castle’s relatives, and wonderful commentary by John Yau and Robert Storr. A DVD of the documentary is enclosed with every copy of the exhibition catalog, which I highly suggest you run out and buy in addition to seeing the retrospective.

The hundreds of drawings, collages and assemblages exhibited in the Philadelphia Museum are only a fraction of the works that Castle created in his lifetime, and are inspiring on many levels. Castle’s inventive compositions and constructions, and his constant rethinking of the familiar spaces in his life are apparent in his work, taking it beyond what we have come to think of as the work of an untrained “outsider.”

James Castle, Untitled, Not dated. Found paper, soot, string, graphite. 15.5 x 14.5". Courtesy J Crist Gallery

James Castle, Untitled (Shed Interior with Drawings, Constructions, Books, and Objects), n.d. Soot and spit on found paper Sheet (irregular): 8.5 x 10". Collection of Philadelphia Museum of Art: Gift of Ann and John Ollman in memory of Maurice and Kathryn Hammond, 1998. Photo by Lynn Rosenthal and Andrea Simon

James Castle, Untitled (Morton Salt Girl), n.d. found paper, color of unknown origin. 7.5 x 6" Collection of Susan Chereskin. Photo courtesy J Crist Gallery, Boise

October 14, 2008 - January 4, 2009
www.philamuseum.org

Tags: AIGA, assemblage, books, collage, documentary, drawing, Foundation for Self-Taught American Artists, James Castle, Jeffrey Wolf, John Yau, New York, outsider art, paper, Philadelphia, Philadelphia Museum of Art, retrospective, Robert Storr, soot.