Intro 1 by Gerard Brown- Writer of the movie 'Juice"

From the streets of Brooklyn, New York, to the galleries of Amsterdam and Paris, the artist Pistol is celebrated as one of the legendary pioneers of subway graffiti -- an indigenous American art form which like Jazz and Rock & Roll has captured the imagination and following of people everywhere on the planet. Pistol is rightly credited as the creator of the first 3D and American Flag spray paint subway masterpieces dating back to the dawn of graffiti, the early 1970’s. Pistol was one of a handful of writers who created the revolutionary and innovate styles that inspired generations of writers from all over the world who've evolved the art form to dizzying heights.

Pistol's journey began in 1971 when he enrolled in New York City’s Art & Design High School, a revered breeding ground for the graffiti art form. His career as a subway graffiti artist, similar to that of his musical idol Jimi Hendrix, lasted a mere three years. An arrest for stealing spray paint cut short his rebel run of painting on illegal surfaces and landed him in the United Graffiti Artists. Pistol left the UGA for feelings of being exploited as a Sociology experiment long before the group finally started to paint. While only a few photos of Pistol’s many works of subway graffiti have surfaced, his 3D and U.S. Flag masterpieces of 1972 and 1973 are well documented. 

After graduating from A&D in 1974, Pistol's artistic interests and expression included music. His band, Anxiety X,  released a CD in 2008 of original music and in 2010 he composed the title track  for Blood And Bone, a hugely successful Martial Arts action movie.  From 1977 through 2000, Pistol worked as a magazine Art Director for various publications, including Guitar World, for which he was the founding art director.  

Pistol resumed his artistic career in 1988 with exhibits of his work at the Martinez Gallery in New York City and later in various European galleries. His first one-man show in 1997 introduced  a new art form, the digital painting of graffiti art. 

This site sheds light on Pistol's thoughts and career through text and photos. He continues to paint, create music for film and works as a self employed graphic designer. He was featured in a Gordon Matta - Clark retrospective (above photo) at the Whitney Museum in 2007. And in 2009 The Cartier Foundation Museum in Paris, France. staged a three-month exhibit, ‘The History Of Graffiti’ which featured an historical video interview of Pistol. - Jim Bergman

Having moved from the Bronx to Brooklyn when I was 5 years old my family settled in the Bensonhurst section of Brooklyn that at the time was a tough lower middle class largely Italian area I affectionately called ‘the mafia breeding ground’ where most of my friends family were all connected in some way to the mob.  I lived 5 blocks from the “Godfather”, the last Don of the mafia, Carlo Gambino. This was the late 60’s and as a Jewish person I was a bit of an outsider but my older sister was very much a part of them and they took me under their wing. They always thought I was a weird off beat artist who stayed to himself.  I used to ride my bike on Ocean Parkway to Avenue Z and stop to annoy the FBI agents staked out across the street from Carlo Gambino.  As I said earlier everything changed when I heard Hendrix in 1969.  I escaped into my own world and weaved in and out of my neighborhood. The three years I went to A&D I revolutionized Graffiti creating the first ever 3 D piece as well as the flag piece while quietly living in a neighborhood that paid little or no attention to what I was doing. Now the neighborhood is predominately Eastern European.

No matter what neighborhood Graf artists came from, we all felt like alien visitors from another planet. And I mean that because we alienated many of our friends and family. It was considered anti-social behavior and because only a handful of people were writing we most certainly felt like we were creating something new and revolutionary. All great art comes from the street and European Art critics have been on record as saying graffiti is the last great Art form to come out of America since Rock & Roll and Jazz. When we started getting the attention from the media and the art world we were very aware that what we were doing would have long lasting and influential impact.  But on the level it has grown is a testament to it’s worldwide influence and acceptance in modern culture. It now has a $ dollar value!!!!!!

Graffiti is no different than any other art form, musical style, automobile style, architecture style or fashion style. If a human being creates it, another human being will copy it, improve upon it and complicate it till the point of no return. While this is happening other human beings will write about it, criticize it, come up with names for it and convince the rest of the human beings to believe it and follow it. But it always comes full circle to ‘the truth’. The truth is always the simplest of things and history always gives us human beings a choice, which is what they choose to see! The media always has a profound impact on culture allowing different art forms to influence style. So style in Graffiti is no different than anything else. Once the media takes notice it determines what style will prevail.

Media aside, It's the everyday people that are close to the revolution. It was divided. A percentage of commuters were not thrilled sitting on dried paint and not being able to see out the windows. Mostly younger people and tourists liked the movement and of course the growing number of writers. 

At the time the Mayor of NYC was John Lindsay whose administration was inept and put the city in debt. When the tags became large-scale pieces Mayor Lindsay became obsessed with trying to combat Graffiti to the point of assigning a special task force that far exceeded the city budget. He had a special Op named Swartz who led the force to capture all the top writers and it escalated to the level where so many millions were spent and they couldn’t make a dent in stopping it. 

Mayor Lindsay was publicly obsessed with wiping out graffiti and it divided his administration to the point he became ineffective in running the city and it is widely said that his inability to fight graffiti brought down his administration. A true indication of how controversial and divisive art can be.

When I attended Art & Design High School in 1971 when Graffiti was in the early stages. The subways were covered with it making the subway cars moving canvases. The instructors or teachers rode the subway to our school to teach us just as the students took the subway. The teachers and the students were artists, however half the teachers were appalled by it, which were the more technical teachers and the other half who taught painting and communication art found it fascinating. As far as underestimating it, at the time their was no gallery or commercial interest in it so it may not have occurred to them what the future of the art form held. Neither did we!

We had a special security guard named Shaft who focused on finding out who the top writers were because the city and police knew that Art & design was a breeding ground for what was destroying the surface of New York City. He loved us, was sensitive to what we were doing and never gave us up!

I feel people who are sensitive, self aware and creative no matter what nationality or religion will agree that Religion tends to divide people. It tends to oppress people. It tends to strip them of independent thought so as not to arouse any conflict with what they are told to believe in their respected religions. Religion is a form of politics that excludes and in this complicated time in our world tends to be outdated and doesn’t work in terms of giving people spirituality and faith in God. When you create music or art or hear and see others creating music and art it gives you a sense of spirituality because all and anyone is welcomed to enjoy and interpret what they see and hear thus it is inclusive. It promotes harmony and brings people together that otherwise may never have even given each other a glance! It breaks down barriers and promotes independent thought with out having to offend someone because of a particular religious belief!  

Imagine if everyone caught up in organized religion suddenly put there faith and spirituality in art and music. We may just have a world with no war or hostile borders and people would be picking up paint brushes and musical instruments instead of machine guns.