Toxic (graffiti artist)

Last updated

Torrick Ablack (born January 16, 1965), also known as Toxic, is an American artist who was part of the graffiti movement of the early 1980s in New York City. He transitioned from street art to exhibiting his paintings in galleries and museums internationally.

Life and career

Ablack was born in Bronx, New York on January 16, 1965. [1] His mother was Puerto Rican and his father's family came from Trinidad. [2] In his youth he was given the nickname Toxic Battery, which became his graffiti tag. [1] He began painting graffiti at the age of 13 with A-One and Kool Koor. They joined Rammellzee's graffiti crew Tag Master Killers, which also consisted of Delta2. [3] Each member designed their own style for arming letters based on Rammellzee's theory of Gothic Futurism, which describes graffiti as the weaponization of letters in a battle to reclaim language from a "diseased culture" of social control. [4] In the early 1980s, they were among the graffiti artists bringing original art and music from the Bronx and Queens to the downtown art scene. [5] In 1982, Toxic, A-One, and Kool Koor participated in the group show Camouflaged Panzerism at Fashion Moda in South Bronx. [1]

Toxic met artist Jean-Michel Basquiat soon after Basquiat's exhibition at Annina Nosei Gallery in 1982. [2] Basquiat became his mentor and hired him as an occasional studio assistant. [4] Toxic and Rammellzee accompanied Basquiat to Los Angeles while he prepared for his 1983 show at the Gagosian Gallery. [6] [7] While in Los Angeles, where they were struck by how the film industry portrayed African Americans, especially during the Golden Age of Hollywood. [5] In response, they dubbed themselves the Hollywood Africans as a social and political statement to counter the stereotypical portrayals of African Americans in Hollywood. The trio are depicted in Basquiat's paintings Hollywood Africans in front of the Chinese Theater with Footprints of Movie Stars (1983) and Hollywood Africans (1983). [8]

Toxic stayed true to the graffiti spraying technique and worked on canvases pinned to the wall. His work became more abstract than the tags he wrote on subway cars. In 1984, Toxic participated in the group show Arte di Frontiera: New York Graffiti in Italy. [9] He was part of the exhibit Rapid Enamel at the University of Chicago in 2014, which was the first showcasing of graffiti in an American institution. [10] His artwork has since appeared in the collections of major museums, including the Brooklyn Museum, the Groninger Museum and the Museum of the City of New York. [11] In 2013, he was featured in the exhibit Last of the Hollywood Africans: Toxic, Rammellzee and Jean-Michel Basquiat at Londonewcastle Project Space in London. [5] In 2015, he was featured in the group exhibit Le Pressionnisme at Pinacothèque de Paris. That year, he participated in the exhibit Graffiti, New York meets the Dam at the Amsterdam Museum. [1] In 2020, his painting, Ransom Note: CEE (1984), was included in the exhibit Writing the Future: Basquiat and the Hip-Hop Generation at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. [12]

Toxic designed a wallpaper, a printed linen, and a wall panel in collaboration with French textile house Pierre Frey. [13] [14]

Toxic is based in France but spends his time between Paris, Florence, and New York. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jean-Michel Basquiat</span> American artist (1960–1988)

Jean-Michel Basquiat was an American artist who rose to success during the 1980s as part of the Neo-expressionism movement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fab Five Freddy</span> American artist

Fred Brathwaite, more popularly known as Fab 5 Freddy, is an American visual artist, filmmaker, and hip hop pioneer. He is considered one of the architects of the street art movement. Freddy emerged in New York's downtown underground creative scene in the late 1970s as a graffiti artist. He was the bridge between the burgeoning uptown rap scene and the downtown No Wave art scene. He gained wider recognition in 1981 when Debbie Harry rapped on the Blondie song "Rapture" that "Fab 5 Freddy told me everybody's fly." In the late 1980s, Freddy became the first host of the groundbreaking hip-hop music video show Yo! MTV Raps.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rammellzee</span> American rapper

Rammellzee was a visual artist, gothic futurist graffiti writer, painter, performance artist, art theoretician, sculptor and a hip-hop musician from New York City, who has been cited as "instrumental in introducing elements of the avant-garde into hip-hop culture".

George Lee Quiñones is a Puerto Rican artist and actor. Quiñones rose to prominence by creating massive New York City subway car graffiti that carried his moniker "LEE". His style is rooted in popular culture and often with political messages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dondi (graffiti artist)</span> American graffiti artist (1961–98)

Donald Joseph White, "DONDI" was an American graffiti artist.

SAMO is a graffiti tag originally used on the streets of New York City from 1978 to 1980. The tag, written with a copyright symbol as "SAMO©", and pronounced Same-Oh, is primarily associated with the artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, but was originally developed as a collaboration between Basquiat and Al Diaz.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beat Bop</span> 1983 single by Rammellzee and K-Rob

"Beat Bop" is a song by American hip-hop artists Rammellzee and K-Rob. It was produced and arranged by Jean-Michel Basquiat. Initially, it was made as a test pressing by Tartown Inc. in 1983. That same year, the song was released as a single by Profile Records, and featured in the hip-hop documentary film Style Wars (1983).

Art in the Streets was an exhibition held at the Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles from April 17 to August 8, 2011. Curated by its then-director Jeffrey Deitch and associate curators Aaron Rose and Roger Gastman, it surveyed the development of graffiti and global street art from the 1970s to the present, covering the cities of New York City, the West Coast, London, and São Paulo with a focus on Los Angeles. It was supposed to travel to the Brooklyn Museum from March 30 to July 8, 2012. The exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum was cancelled because of financial difficulties.

<i>Hollywood Africans</i> 1983 painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat

Hollywood Africans is a painting created by American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat in 1983. The artwork is Basquiat's response to the portrayals of African Americans in the entertainment industry.

<i>Defacement (The Death of Michael Stewart)</i> 1983 painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat

The Death of MichaelStewart, known as Defacement, is a painting created by American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat in 1983. The artwork is Basquiat's response to anti-Black racism and police brutality. It memorializes the death of Michael Stewart at the hands of New York City Transit Police for allegedly writing graffiti in the subway. No graffiti was found, according to Stewart's girlfriend at the time of his death.

<i>Untitled</i> (1982 Basquiat skull painting) Painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat

Untitled is a painting created by American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat in 1982. The artwork, which depicts a skull, is among the most expensive paintings ever. In May 2017, it sold for $110.5 million at Sotheby's, the highest price ever paid at auction for artwork by an American artist in a public sale. That record was surpassed by Shot Marilyns by Andy Warhol, which sold for $195 million in May 2022.

Undiscovered Genius of the Mississippi Delta is a painting created by American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat in 1983. Spanning over 15 feet, the artwork is an assessment of select African American history. The painting sold for $23.7 million at Sotheby's contemporary art evening auction in May 2014.

<i>Dos Cabezas</i> 1982 painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat

Dos Cabezas is a painting created by American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat in 1982. The double portrait resulted from Basquiat's first formal meeting with his idol, American pop artist Andy Warhol.

<i>Irony of Negro Policeman</i> 1981 painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat

Irony of Negro Policeman is a painting created by American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat in 1981. It depicts a black figure as police officer.

Anthony Clark, known as A-One, was an American graffiti artist. He developed a style he called "aerosol expressionism".

<i>Flexible</i> (Basquiat) 1984 painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat

Flexible is a painting created by American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat in 1984. The artwork, which portrays a griot, sold for $45.3 million at Phillips in May 2018.

<i>Flesh and Spirit</i> (painting) Painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat

Flesh and Spirit is a painting created by American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat c. 1982–83. The multi-panel painting, which is one of the largest ever made by Basquiat, sold for $30.7 million at Sotheby's in May 2018.

<i>Untitled (Pollo Frito)</i> 1982 painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat

Untitled (Pollo Frito) is a painting created by American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat in 1982. The artwork was sold at Sotheby's for $25.7 million in November 2018.

<i>Cadillac Moon</i> 1981 painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat

Cadillac Moon is a painting created by American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat in 1981. It is notable for being the first purchased Basquiat painting; bought by singer Debbie Harry for $200.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Al Diaz (artist)</span> American artist and lecturer

Al Diaz is an American urban artist and lecturer best known for being among the first generation of graffiti writers in the community and for co-creating the graffiti campaign SAMO© with Jean-Michel Basquiat in 1978.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Niso, Carolina (January 30, 2016). "Asi llego Toxic a galerias de arte y museos". El Tiempo. p. 21.
  2. 1 2 Lark, Jasmine (September 11, 2013). "Toxic / Torrick Ablack". Widewalls. Retrieved January 3, 2021.
  3. ↑ "Rammellzee: Graffiti Writer, Artist and Deity "Racing For Thunder"". Brooklyn Street Art. July 25, 2018. Retrieved January 4, 2021.
  4. 1 2 "Dive into "Writing the Future"". Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Retrieved January 5, 2021.
  5. 1 2 3 "Last of the Hollywood Africans: Toxic, Rammellzee and Jean-Michel Basquiat". Very Nearly Almost. February 8, 2013. Retrieved January 3, 2021.
  6. ↑ Desmarais, Mary-Dailey; Buchhart, Dieter; Bessieres, Vincent, eds. (2022). Seeing Loud: Basquiat and Music. Paris. p. 92. ISBN   978-2-89192-440-5. OCLC   1338671277.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  7. ↑ Hoffman, Fred (March 13, 2005). "Basquiat's L.A." Los Angeles Times.
  8. ↑ Saggese, Jordana Moore (2014). Reading Basquiat: Exploring Ambivalence in American Art. Univ of California Press. pp. 23–24. ISBN   978-0-520-27624-6.
  9. ↑ "Archivio Ferrari > Ricerca: arte di frontiera". www.genusbononiaearchiviofotografico.it. Retrieved August 18, 2021.
  10. ↑ "Rapid Enamel: The Art of Graffiti | Exhibitions". The Renaissance Society. Retrieved January 3, 2021.
  11. ↑ "Ransom Note: CEE". Brooklyn Museum. Retrieved January 3, 2021.
  12. ↑ Saenger, Peter (October 19, 2020). "Art From the Streets of New York". Wall Street Journal. ISSN   0099-9660 . Retrieved January 3, 2021.
  13. ↑ Sherman, Rebecca (December 10, 2015). "A Toxic Win: Graffiti Artist and a Storied French House Unexpectedly Team Up". PaperCity Magazine. Retrieved January 4, 2021.
  14. ↑ Martin, Hannah (December 31, 2014). "Pierre Frey's Favorite Street Artists". Architectural Digest. Retrieved January 4, 2021.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.