WHITEBOOK 01 – IT'S A CIRCLE by Mark Grokenberger

New York City is the birthplace of graffiti—and especially of train writing. Since the mid-1980s, writers from all over the world have been making pilgrimages to this mecca, and many of them have attempted to paint the legendary subway—just as their role models have done since the 1970s. The first volume of the WHITEBOOK series IT'S A CIRCLE documents several trips to the Big Apple by German writer and photographer Mark Grokenberger between 2019 and 2024.
"Mark Grokenberger's original intention was simply to explore New York City, following in the footsteps of graffiti legends like LEE, DONDI, and SEEN. He wanted to experience the olfactory atmosphere of the venerable tunnels, create a piece in places where numerous milestones were created—and capture a touch of the old New York, which has largely disappeared today."
— René Kästner

The 224-page hardcover volume chronologically tells the story of writer friends who initially just want to check off the subway for a moment – ​​only to discover that the city has much more to offer for ambitious train writers. With each trip to NYC, their adventures become more professional – ultimately leading to well-thought-out end-to-ends, colorful wholecars, and even entire wholetrains. Their experiences are divided into six chapters and are accompanied by reflective texts and stories about selected adventures.

"It's more craftsmanship than graffiti art, but that's exactly what we wanted to be our trademark. Megalomaniac kids from Europe reaching for the stars in the USA. Simple, but true. [...] Painting so many large pieces was never our plan—rather, it's the result of a growing affection for the city and its subway system."
IT'S A CIRCLE is a five-year journey with impressive photographs—not only of tunnel action, yards, in traffic, and from a drone, but also of authentic New York in atmospheric street and subway photographs. Participating artists include SEKO, BQEM, YUSUF, TUKI, IRAK, EYSIR, ORG, IOC, MOPS, and many more.

"But sometimes things demand to be seen. Sometimes I have to go out and share. This is one of those moments. These are the memories, snippets, and stories of some of my best adventures – shared with incredible friends."
The first volume in the WHITEBOOK series opens with a foreword by series founder René Kästner. It is available as a signed limited edition of 250 copies, including two prints and a postcard, and as a regular edition consisting of the book alone.

ISBN: 978-3-9825457-2-1
20 x 30 cm, Hardcover, 224 pages
Paper: Book cover 135 g/m² wood-free white matt coated art print

Volume 1

I grew up in the Bronx New York, and graffiti, hip hop, and break dancing was the expression of time. I always loved the arts of expression, and in these times, it seems like those liberties are fading. I want to create books that will not only let people view the art that moved me so much, but to allow them to join in on the fun and actually get the feel of understanding the art, by tracing over my pieces until they learn to create their own styles. Upon completing their first piece, they will fall in love with creating graphic masterpieces. SKIP and COAST from STYLEMASTERS.

• 94 Pages

Martha Cooper has spent decades immortalising art that is often overlooked, and usually illegal. Her first book, 1984’s Subway Art is affectionately referred to by graffiti artists as the »bible«. To create Spray Nation, Cooper and editor Roger Gastman pored through hundreds of thousands of 35mm Kodachrome slides, painstakingly selecting and digitising them. They are accompanied by heartfelt essays celebrating Cooper’s drive, spirit, and singular vision.

The images capture a gritty New York era that is gone forever. And although the original pieces have been lost, these resplendent photos feel as immediate and powerful as a subway train thundering down the tracks.

Wild, free and ephemeral - street art and graffiti are a worldwide phenomenon. From Brassaï, who led graffiti into mainstream art around 1960, via the Sprayer of Zurich in the 1970s to the first Banksy works in the UK - Illegal tells a prehistory of street art and graffiti.

Hardly any of the works of this short-lived genre still exist today. They were also often documented illegally and under adverse conditions. Illustrated here are key works and rarities that have never been shown. All were created illegally, i.e. without permission, directly for an audience on the street - not for museum contexts. "People say graffiti is ugly, irresponsible and childish. But that's only if it's done properly" [Banksy]. Long-standing picture research has condensed a selection of works by some 100 artists from over a dozen countries and their references to pop music, avant-garde art and literature. We discuss why these artists in particular were significant trendsetters for street art and graffiti before Banksy.

• 300 Pages
• Softcover

A contributing writer to the online journal Photomonitor, she curated the V&A show 'Street Art: Contemporary Prints' (2010-12), which toured the UK, with a version shown in Libya.

She is the author of Street Art: Contemporary Prints, and contributed to Phaidon Archive of Graphic Design, Modernism 1914-1939: Designing a New World and 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die.

Description Surprising, controversial and often simply beautiful, street craft is the next chapter in the story of street art - an explosion of creativity that is reclaiming and transforming urban space around the world.

Featuring:

• Tasha Lewis's blue butterfly swarms bring beauty to derelict corners of New York.

• Spidertag intertwines sturdy rope and nails to construct abstract graffiti in Madrid.

• Mademoiselle Maurice's origami and lace graffiti bring a light touch to the streets of Paris and Hong Kong and many more.

• 224 Pages

• Hardcover

More than 300 stickers by 50 graffiti artists from around the world!

Graffiti artist’s sense of colour, shape and eye-catching characters are second to none. In The Graffiti Sticker Book, more than 50 renowned graffiti artists from the United States, Europe, the United Kingdom and Australia have created the designs.

Now it’s up to you to stick them up!

This is the real deal! Each page is packed with exclusive designs, showcasing the diverse styles and perspectives of top graffiti masters. This book offers a thrilling journey through the global graffiti scene.

Pages: 100
ISBN: 9789189944039
Size: 16 x 16 cm

Lee Quiñones: Fifty Years of New York Graffiti Art and Beyond

Fifty Years of New York Graffiti Art and Beyond is the first monograph of Puerto Rican born artist Lee Quiñones presenting his monumental work and following his evolution over five decades.

'If you wanted one artist to speak for a whole genre, Lee is your man. If you want a book that treats graffiti as fine art and illustrates it sumptuously, this is it.' - The Artist

'An inspired outlaw with a meticulous design process and precision painting skills, his voice responded to the social and civil unrest of the era and found expression in painting graffiti, an ancient art form that he and many of his peers had to defend in the larger art world.' - Juxtapoz

'What we have here are essentially moments in time, a stop-frame history of fifty years of graffiti, if you like. If you want just one book on the subject, this would be it.' - Art Book Review

When 14-year-old Lee embarked on his first spray paint mural in 1974, he carried marker drawings into the New York City subway train yards that served as studies to his 52-ft long rolling murals. Drawings, artifacts, and subway photography illustrate how Lee's emergence served as a catalyst for what is now acknowledged as the street art movement. Before Lee, graffiti art was accessed by a small audience of young people who coveted style and scale. Images of Lee's trains illustrate how he changed the face of the movement, infusing kinetic elements of futurism in over 120 subway car murals across the transit system. Lee invented the concept of the freestanding urban mural in his iconic 1978 Howard the Duck handball wall. He introduced spray-paint based work internationally when he opened his first formal exhibition in Rome, Italy in 1979, alongside Fab 5 Freddy. He influenced peers Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring, Jenny Holzer, among others, who are shown viewing Lee's work. Lee and Basquiat were the youngest artists to exhibit at Documenta 7. Lee starred as the semi-autobiographical Zoro in Wild Style, the first feature film about hip hop. Images show the social commentary and poetry used in his early expressionistic work. Subsequent paintings show how Lee's practice has shaped a generation of contemporary artists as he further developed his technique. The imagery captures the mood and urgency of 1980s New York and moves from the streets to the intimacy and maturity of Lee's contemporary studio environment.

• Hardcover
• 192 Pages

From renowned photographer Martha Cooper, this is a book about the traditional art of tattooing and a rare portrait of a master artist.

It provides a unique glimpse into the world of traditional Japanese tattooing in Tokyo in 1970, and collects photographs capturing the Japanese art of Irezumi (often associated with the Yakuza, but also widely recognised for its cultural significance and artistry).

It follows the tattooist Horibun through his work, his customers and their tattoos.Martha Cooper came to Tokyo in 1969. She soon became interested in the local art of tattooing and began documenting the work of traditional Japanese tattooist Horibun I who worked with traditional Japanese methods, tattoos made by hand, with different sized bundles of needles bound to sticks which he dipped into coloured inks. His motifs were derived from traditional Japanese legends.

ISBN 9789189944046
Dokument Press
Paperback, 72 pages, 17 x 28 cm.