TONIGHT!!! The one and only NYC street art innovator Mr. Albert Diaz will be closing his solo pop-up show featuring a career spanning 30+ years of work. The Same Old Gallery has transformed the last residence of the infamous Jean-Michel Basquiat (friend and collaborator of Al Diaz) in NYC Lower East Side to showcase Al’s work along side wall to wall graffiti featuring other legends such as Nic 707, Crime 79, Dr. Revolt, Haze, Keon 1, Rocky 184, Crunch SA, Spar, CoCo 144, EASY, KOZ, & KR 1… to name a few.
Once inside this pop-up gallery the patron is taken back immediately to a scene straight out of “Old New York”. Diaz explains:
“…the building had a rich history with the gangsters. Paul Kelly lived there, owned the building, 57 Great Jones Street. I think the show covers good ground in terms of my life, especially those old photographs, it’s a pretty well rounded picture or representation of what I am doing, what I have been doing since ’89 especially because of the Altars. That Altars have my new work attached to them; they have signage on them, but the Altars themselves, I started making those in the late ‘80’s. As i wrote on the ceiling. ‘Some make art, others make art history.’ We made art history in that building”
Make your way down to 57 Great Jones St. from 6-9 pm tonight October 20, 2018 and meet one of street arts true pioneers, and an all around nice guy. Grab a print at the show and Al will personalize it with your very own SAMO© slogan if you ask nicely! You will be doing him a solid since Al needs to keep in practice because he still writes SAMO© daily around NYC!
The gallery space was secured by Al’s street artist collaborator Adrian Wilson @interiorphotography, and curated by @lazysusangallery owner Brian Shevlin. This is your last chance to see the space before its renovated into a retail space and eventually a restaurant!
All Photo’s & Text Copyright 2018 Matthew A. Eller. Follow me on Instagram @ellerlawfirm.
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