You Weren’t There – 1990s NYC Graffiti

Aesthetics, Plasticity & Form

Most publications on New York graffiti have the 1970s and 1980s in focus, the years when namewriting evolved and peaked on the city’s subway trains. But as around 1989 the MTA (Metro Transit Authority) won and the clean train era began graffiti did not stop – it went were it came from: The streets of the Big Apple. You Weren’t There is a massive 496-paged tome that has this yet under-represented time in focus when hundreds of new writers got up in the streets with countless tags, throw-ups and bombings.

The gallery owner and curator Hugo Martinez, founder of the 1972 United Graffiti Artists, teamed up with a dozen of the city’s most notorious vandals whose Golden Years were the 90s and following years to put together a comprehensive insight into this era with more than 600 photographs. Text and interview contributions from KEZ5, SKUF, JA, GREY, MQ, NATO, DOLT, COMET, RATE, LES, GIZ, SABE, REMO, REBEL, CASE2, EARSNOT, VFR, NICEO, RYNO, Prof. Lewis Hyde and even DESA’s mother can be found in the book.

The rich photo content contains action shots, throw-ups, tags, trucks, shutters, freights, sketches, station pieces, billboards, tunnels, exhibition views, letters, posse shots, highway bombings, newspaper clippings and blackbook pages, each accompanied with a caption giving the writers names. Also added is an index of featured writers, crews, their meanings, exhibitions and a time line, as well as an commented glossary. The Vanguards chapter spotlights GHOST, NOXER, REVS, SANE, SENTO and many others.

Throughout the entire book several participating writers also added statements and anecdotes directly interacting to the shown photos. This way you get the feel to join an evening with friends skimming through a box of old photos and telling stories on their youth years. You Weren’t There opens with an introduction by Hugo Martinez and Berlin’s SPAIR reflects on the throw-up styles of selected writers in the last chapter. If you are interested in the graffiti history of NYC beyond the trainwriting era this book is a long overdue must-have!

496 pages, 21,5 x 25,6 cm, hardcover
Language: English
Release date: June 2026
ISBN: 978-3-7757-6163-5
Publisher: Martinez Gallery & Hatje Cantz Verlag