The third and final volume of the trilogy DECADES – Graffiti in Berlin (Vol. 1 1990–2000 / Vol. 2 2000–2010), which presents 30 years of graffiti in Berlin, is now eagerly awaited. With a selection of thousands of photos, a comprehensive view of the development of the graffiti subculture in Berlin is created. In addition to the many illustrations, a large number of personal texts by the writers provide a unique insight into their experiences and perspectives. In these remarks, the developments of the last decade are described in very different ways and, through sometimes very personal remarks, the diversity but also the common ground of the Berlin graffiti writers are made tangible for the reader.

The third volume 2010–2020 contains portraits with many photos and personal texts on the following graffiti writers and crews:
ABIS, BOKS, DROW, IXAP, KGO, LION, JEICO, MATEZ, OLDI, ROCCO, SIEGER, TRASH, TRUS, QUIS, WILD // CLUBS, FB, HELL, OFF, RWRZ, SMS, TBA, TCK

There are also mixed chapters in the book, which show the development of many other graffiti writers and crews in this decade with hundreds of photos. Berlin's graffiti in the 10s was characterized by the influx of many writers from all parts of the world. Berlin has also developed into the place to be and a world metropolis, especially for graffiti on trains. This is largely due to the fact that painted subways ran more and more from 2010 onwards and at the end of the decade "the system was blown up". New techniques and competition among writers, which was stimulated even more by the visibility of the subway graffiti, increased the quality of the execution of the pieces. At the same time, the documentation of graffiti has increased immensely and gained in professionalism. Due to these many different sub-areas in the development history 2010–2020, there was an extremely large amount of material to process in the third volume, making it perhaps the most diverse edition of the DECADES series.


• hardcover large format (29cmx23cm)
• perfect binding
• 328 pages with over 900 photo illustrations
• texts in German and English
• 135gr. Arctic White paper
• offset print
• 1500 copies

Get the Met: ‘How we Met’ Second Edition

An expanded and revised edition from the First.

Four Letter Press presents a sequel to the Australian design cult-classic publication, Get the Met, ‘How we Met’ Second Edition. Following on from the continued success of the first edition released in 2020, we gladly present to you a 300 page hardcover publication with four times the amount of content from the first edition. The chapters in the book include Early Periods of Melbourne Rail History, Brochures and Printed Material, train ticketing, the train models, railway branding and additional chapters such as staff uniforms and signage.

The book contains 100’s of exclusive images, some never seen by the public, now readily available for your viewing and book collection needs. Beginning the book off with classic black and white photographs of Flinders Street pre-electrification, textured film photos from ex-workshop staff member and private collector, Simon McArdle, a mix of film and crisp digital photos from a private collection of Chris McGregor and additional photographers noted from the previous edition.

The Second Edition has grown, now a generous 300mm x 300mm book size which is as big as a vinyl record cover! With a mind-blowing 300 page hardcover feature, this book is definitely going down in the ages.

The Second Edition aims to shed more light on the early periods of Melbourne rail, organisational and operational information about ‘The Met’ and revised details about the train model design descriptions. The author, Jourdan Sungkar, has spent 5 years since the first edition, researching Melbourne rail through hundreds of rail issued publications and reading material that has resulted in the culmination of this newly minted Second Edition, in what may be a life-long series of Melbourne rail history.

No book has covered such an extensive visual history of Melbourne rail. It will surely go up in price so think of it as an investment as well.

Book specifications:

300 x 300mm pages
300 page hardcover
Shrink wrapped with sticker
Comes with famous Get the Met sticker and ticket pack.

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

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

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.