ED PISKOR | "Slick Rick". Original art for pin-up in volume 2 of "The Hip Hop Family Tree", 2015

ED PISKOR

"SLICK RICK". ORIGINAL ART FOR PINUP IN VOLUME 2 OF THE HIP HOP FAMILY TREE, 2015

Pencil and ink on stiff paper (17 by 11 inches), signed "Ed Piskor 2020" at center left; minor handling wear to verso.  

"I’ve become enchanted with the drawing trick of having the characters standing on the horizon line. What I like about it is you could draw a giant shoe in the immediate foreground and a super tiny person in the background and as long as they’re standing on that horizon line, the perspective is accurate."

From Fantagraphics, the publisher: "Hip Hop Family Tree Book 2: 1981-1983. The second installment of this acclaimed graphic novel hip-hop history (originally serialized on the popular website Boing Boing) covers the years 1981-1983.

Covering the early years of 1981-1983, Hip Hop has made a big transition from the parks and rec rooms to downtown clubs and vinyl records. The performers make moves to separate themselves from the paying customers by dressing more and more flamboyant until a young group called RUN-DMC comes on the scene to take things back to the streets. This volume covers hits like Afrika Bambaataa’s Planet Rock, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five’s the Message, the movie Wild Style and introduces superstars like NWA, The Beastie Boys, Doug E Fresh, KRS One, ICE T, and early Public Enemy. Cameos by Dolemite, LL Cool J, Notorious BIG, and New Kids on the Block (?!)!"

REFERENCE:

Illustrated: Ed Piskor: The Fantagraphics Studio Edition, p. 156 

PROVENANCE:

Courtesy Ed Piskor