Graffiti Legend Taki 183 Reappears After 35-Year Hiatus

This past Thursday marked the 40th anniversary of a very significant New York Times article that helped spawn the graffiti movement of the 70s and 80s.

The historic article was a profile of a 17-year-old teenager from Manhattan who had started tagging his alias all over the city, eventually catching the eye of one news reporter and sparking interest in a new modern-art movent.

The alias of this rebelious teen was Taki 183, who suddenly became the graffiti world’s first superstar. Soon after, the graffiti movement had made its way into the media limelight.

Since the mid 1970s, the graffiti artist has kept a low profile, and eventually looked to other pursuits as well as raising a family.

In honor of the article’s 40th anniversary, Taki 183 made his first media appearance last night at a special book-signing event for the recently released The History of American Graffiti, held at The Hole in New York City.

The book, written by authors Roger Gastman and Caleb Neelon, covers the notorious art form’s history over the last 100 years. Starting with graffiti’s first apperances on freight cars, the book then delves into the art movement’s development in the urban neighborhoods of New York and Philadelphia, and later focuses on the form’s modern-day influences.

To view images from The History of American Graffiti and last night’s book signing, which is out now from Harper Design, click through the photos in the slideshow above!