Press Release - "Who Is Taki 183" World Premier Screening at 1AM

First Amendment Gallery

Premier Screening of “Who Is Taki 183”

Closing Reception for “From Tags to Riches”

February 29th 5pm to 7pm, screening at 6pm

info@1amsf.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - First Amendment Gallery is pleased to announce the closing reception for “From Tags to Riches,” a retrospective photography exhibition highlighting the career of photographer, lecturer, and author James Prigoff, along with the premier of his film, “Who Is Taki 183.”

The art of tagging has been documented as one of the earliest forms of expression and communication among civilizations (think hieroglyphics and cave paintings). Tagging as we know it today can be dated well-back to the 1950s and 60s; although there were earlier taggers taking the streets by storm, a Greek teenager named Demetrius, who lived in New York City at 183rd Street, began to write his name as Taki 183 all over the city as he made his rounds as a delivery boy. What started off as an innocuous form of fun and expression created a ripple effect that spread tagging throughout NYC and then the world. Identified in simple stick letters, no calligraphy, Taki 183 hasn’t written a tag since 1971... and yet, he became an iconic figure after a New York Times article that year entitled, “TAKI Spawns Pen Pals, ” emboldened youth all over the city to engage in similar activities. This, then, begs the question: Who is Taki 183?⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

First Amendment Gallery is excited to host the world premier of a new documentary film, "Who Is Taki 183," by our February artist, Jim Prigoff, and award-winning filmmaker, Cedric Godin. This 20-minute film sheds light on the illusive and influential tagger known as Taki 183, with personal accounts by graffiti and street are legends like Cornbread and Blek Le Rat on the importance of Taki on a culture that was sincerely cultivated in the streets.

James Prigoff is a world-renowned documentarian, photographer, author, and lecturer on the subject of murals and spraycan art. He has been photographing in public spaces domestically and abroad for over 40 years and counting. His co-authored seminal photography book chronicling the beginnings of graffiti and mural art, “Spraycan Art,” has sold over 250,000 copies world-wide since it was released in 1987 and his photographs have been exhibited around the globe throughout his career, most recently at Beyond the Streets NYC, Oakland Museum of California, and the Broad in Los Angeles. 

Cedric Godin is an award-winning filmmaker from Belgium living between Paris and Los Angeles. The focus of his work is exploring how individuals are affected by the ever-changing circumstances of a fast-moving society. His first film, PTSD, won Best Film and Best Actor Awards at the NY Chelsea Film Festival in 2015 and his 2019 street art documentary, X art, won Best Editing of a Feature Documentary at the Amsterdam IFF.

First Amendment Gallery invites you to join us at 1000 Howard St. in San Francisco on Saturday, February 29th for a viewing of "Who Is Taki 183" as part of the closing reception for Jim Prigoff's "From Tags to Riches." Closing reception starts at 5pm until 7pm with "Who Is Taki 183" screening at 6pm. For further inquiries, please contact info@1amsf.com.