Dedication to My Man VintageZ::

Vintage and Lulu:


"We were so close some of my pictures didn't come out since the stage-lights messed with my camera's auto-focus."


Lodo: "You know these names here?"

Vintage: "I wouldn't be surprised if they're well known."


I don’t remember the first time I spoke to my man Vintage. He’s one of those guys who walks the streets with a presence. Someone you know’s in the room even when your back’s turned. Not that I’d ever turn my back on Vintage--I’m just saying, he’s one of those guys you’re aware of long before you’ve ever talked to him.

As a writer--and particularly an investigator, I’m always intrigued by people who don’t fit in the box. The black Republican. The gay conservative. Not that I necessarily like these people or believe they’re properly integrated, but they’re intriguing. Interesting. Particularly to someone like myself who seeks patterns to behavior.

Vintage is one of those conundrums that I get a real kick out of. He tends to walk the streets in camouflage pants and an NRA ball-cap which, combined with his long, unkempt biker-beard and bald head project a definite skinhead vibe.

But Vintage’s rough exterior is softened by his constant companion--his French bulldog Lulu; and as it turns out, Vintage makes his living as (of all things!) an art dealer. Go figure.

Again, I can’t recall our first conversation, but the first time we actually hung-out was when I got a call from Vintage.

“Yo Lodo, its Vintage. Remember me?”

“You’d be pretty hard to forget.”

“Ha! Listen, I’ve got an extra ticket for Buddy Guy tonight. You wanna go?”

“Buddy Guy? No shit. Where’s he playing?”

“Out here in Jersey.”

“Jersey?”

(laughs) “I’ll drive, man. Just take a PATH train to Jersey City.”

Well between all my hemming and hawing about getting out to Jersey and the fact that I took the wrong train, we didn’t get to that Buddy Guy show until about five minutes before showtime. Keep in mind, we didn’t have an assigned seat--it was General Admission and the house was sold-out. So I assumed we’d watch that show from the rear of the balcony.

But Vintage walked us calmly from his truck to the venue like we had reserved seats. He threw open the front doors, marched us deliberately down the aisle to the front row where everyone (security included) simply made way, 'til we rested our elbows right on the stage. No sooner had we done so than the lights dimmed and Buddy appeared. Wow. We were so close I could have touched the guy. In fact, some of my pictures didn’t come out since the colored stage-lights messed with my camera’s auto focus. I mean, we were on the stage.

That was the first time Vintage and I hung out, but it was the last time I saw him that prompted this post. Days mean nothing to me now, so its hard for me to remember; but it had to be either Wednesday or Thursday of last week. It was only on accident that we bumped into each other, but as we shared a beer Vintage suddenly had an epiphany.

“You know Lodo, I’ve got something out in my truck you might like. Something that made me think of you when I saw it.”

Of course I was intrigued, so after we finished our beers we walked to Vintage’s truck, where he carefully pulled a painting from out the hatch.

It was a good painting. My kind of painting--with a New York subway car covered in graffiti and high-quality calligraphy in bright colors.

“Wow Vintage, I like this.”

“I thought of you as soon as I saw it,” he said with a warm laugh.

“...Wow,” I repeated as we continued to absorb the artwork, “ I really like this.”

“C’mon,” Vintage said, “lets drive it to your apartment to see how it looks.”

“Naw man,” I answered somewhat apologetically, “now probably isn’t a good time for me to be buying art.”

“Listen Lodo, lets just take it over there to see how it looks.”

So we went to my apartment and of course the painting looked great. Not only a perfect fit aesthetically, but in proper lighting it was obvious the painting itself was even better than I’d realized outdoors.

“Look at some of the names on here,” I said to Vintage as we re-inspected the canvass. “Odd Partnerz. James TOP. You know those names?” I asked.

“I wouldn’t be surprised of these guys are well known,” Vintage answered. “I buy and sell a lot of artwork Lodo and this one struck me right away. There’s something to it. I thought of you when I saw it. That’s why I want you to have it.”

I hadn’t quite grasped what Vintage was saying since I’d moved to my computer to Google some of the names. James TOP. Dondi. Odd Partnerz. Graffiti. New York City. What I got was:

Train muralist James Top (aka JEE 2) was part of the legendary Odd Partners in the 1970s. The Brooklyn crew bombed with throw ups and block letters; they were highly regarded and had a strong presence in the city. These days Top has taken his art indoors -- teaching a graffiti class in the Bronx and, this weekend, opening his first New York exhibit.

Afrology opens this Friday and includes the debut of seventeen variations of "the 1970’s Afro hairstyle that illustrate humorous and serious messages about being an African American within the United States and in New York City." We recently asked him about the early days of graffiti writing as well as his latest endeavours.

How, and when, did you get into writing graffiti? Everyone around the neighborhood was doing it. I was about 12 years old...

Do you recall your first experience using a train as your canvas? Please tell us about it, and the early years of graffiti in the city. My first experience was in the train yards--- really for the first year and a half I began writing my names on the building walls of my projects. I graduated up to trains and became the King. Mickey729, Hurst and In1 and myself formed the legendary crew: The Odd Partners. We worked central Brooklyn and became legendary.

Early graffiti in the city was really fun. All the kids were doing graffiti at the time, every block had a writer. We wrote our names more than anybody. Our energy was different and it was a lot stronger than other local writers. With every train line we took over, we eventually became the kings of that train line— IRT, BMT, IND it didn’t matter. We went where other people didn’t go. Even though each line had it’s respective King, we would writer over their tag and dominate that line. Even those Kings had to bow down to us and there wasn’t really any major beef behind that— we were well received. There wasn’t really competition. It was really “us” vs. the MTA who often tried to clean up our tags. Everyone tried to find a new style but ours became the best style to mimic: the “throw up”. It’s close to a tag but takes more skills to execute with one fill-in color and one outline. We used a lot of silver and black. Mostly “high heat silver” from automotive stores— very luminous stuff.

Did you have any favorite spots back then? I grew up in the projects right next to the Euclid Avenue// A train local train yards. It was very comfortable for me to go out into that massive yard and write. It was the A, AA, E, F and sometimes the G. From that one spot, I hit up 5 trains and became an “all city kid.” We also liked the “lay-up” at the Atlantic Avenue yard where coincidentally, we were up nearly 10 stories high and watched the city go black—hence, the blackout of 1977. Down the block from me was another yard called the New Lots Yard where the 2 & 3 trains were parked.

If you could hit any New York train/building/wall today, which would it be? It would be the A line, that’s my home line and it would run through areas where my friends currently reside.

Do you have a most memorable run-in with the law? (laughs) No comment. (laughs again)

What do you think of street art? Some people consider graffiti art to be street art but unfortunately that’s not true. I don’t classify my artwork as street art. I never use the term street art, not even when my art is in the gallery.

Who do you like that's still writing today? I’ve worked with the very best in this art form. However, I don’t comment about vandalism as I don’t attach myself to random acts of vandalism. But the best writers I know are Mickey729, Hurst, and Dondi, (RIP to them all) and let’s not forget Knock167 who is still alive today.

You currently teach a somewhat controversial graffiti class at Hostos College; what do you teach your students in this class, and what are they most interested in taking away from it? I teach the history of graffiti art forms, how they started and evolved from trains to everywhere all over the world. I try to also have people come in and explain their experiences being graffiti artists. I also show movies and documentaries about graffiti in an effort to showcase different styles. We take trips to see legal graffiti murals. I feel as though I am best to teach this class because I was there when graffiti began and I was in it— I was there. I continue to find information on this art form on a variety of levels and I share it with the students so that they can see how to transform their own style writing into different ways. The students get to learn that hip hop was born in the same borough where the college is— they live where hip hop was born. And with graffiti being associated with Hip-Hop, it means that there is a rich culture right under their noses. Through the class, they learn the illustrious history behind the culture and the people in graffiti arts especially in the south Bronx Community

Your first solo show opens this month, how long have you been preparing for it, and can you tell us a little about what to expect? It’s really my first solo NYC show, but I’ve been preparing for this my whole life. Corrupt systems are an important factor in my artwork. I get to express my anger, concern, and frustration with drugs infiltrated in our neighborhood. On the upside, a black man running for president is a representation of positive changes in our community. These few issues are what my canvases address. It’s New York City! The best city in the world! I couldn’t miss out on not having my show here. This is my home and it won’t be my last solo show either.

Given the opportunity, how would you change New York? I would have a program that involves the youth of New York City where we get them to legally paint murals throughout the summer in order to beautify the city and integrate graffiti into our neighborhoods. With the help of the youth expressing varying styles and messages regarding the community, it can bring about self-esteem to see how one has helped beautify their communities through personal artwork. I would definitely get rid of those pesky graffiti laws. I would want to have more art based programs in and after schools for graffiti based art.

-End Article-

“Uh, Vintage, you may want to look at this.”

After our bit of research it was clear my unemployed ass was not gonna be in the market for Vintage's high-end artwork. But I wasn’t upset. In fact, I was happy for Vintage and his keen eye. He’d made a nice score.

We admired the painting with our newfound information until finally I interjected.

“Alright man, let’s walk it back down to your truck.”

“What d’ya mean?” Vintage asked with a furrowed brow, “I told you, I want you to have it.”

“Aw Vintage, I’m sorry man. This just isn’t a good time for me to buy anything. This thing’s worth real mone...”

“Who said anything about buying, man? I told you, I want you to have this. It’s perfect for you.”

“What?”

“I told you Lodo, I thought of you right away.”


My Man Vintage (big thanks friend!!):



Buddy Guy: Five Long Years


Buddy Guy and Jeff Beck: Let me Love You (at Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame 25th Anniversary Concert, NYC):