Caz / Blade

1979

Henry Chalfant

Associated Names
Henry Chalfant

Artist, American, born 1940

This is a photograph of subway cars covered with graffiti. The top and bottom halves of the image depict two different sides of a train, both adorned with vibrant graffiti art. The top section shows graffiti including a large character illustration of a smiling yellow flower with a face, standing amid a complex backdrop of colorful, overlapping shapes and letters. Other details include various patterns and a painted number "9038". The bottom section features another train car predominantly covered in red, white, and black paint. It showcases a large cartoonish character with a broad smile on the right side of the car, amidst bold, colorful geometric patterns that occupy the center. The train car has a destination sign for "UTICA AVE" and "LEXINGTON AV EXPRESS", with various tags and abstract graffiti artwork spread across the metal surface.
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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    5 chromogenic prints

  • Credit Line

    Corcoran Collection (Gift of Samuel A. and Sandra Esses)

  • Dimensions

    image/sheet (top): 6.5 × 33.5 cm (2 9/16 × 13 3/16 in.)
    image/sheet (bottom): 6.83 × 37.78 cm (2 11/16 × 14 7/8 in.)
    mount: 31.12 × 53.34 cm (12 1/4 × 21 in.)

  • Accession Number

    2015.19.4904


Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Samuel A. and Sandra Esses, East Hampton, NY; gift to the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, 2003; acquired by NGA, 2015.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

2006

  • redefined: Modern and Contemporary Art from the Collection, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, July 15, 2006 – January 2, 2007

Inscriptions

signed by artist on mount, lower right below image in graphite: Henry Chalfant '79; on verso of mount, by unknown hand, upper left in blue ink circled: 27; upper left: CAZ / BlADe; center in graphite, crossed out in blue ink: 13; repeated center right in graphite: 13; by Corcoran Gallery of Art, lower right in graphite: 2003.17.15

Wikidata ID

Q64155037

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