Kaves

Courtesy the artist

The present lot is an original piece book page from the archives of iconic graffiti writer and fine artist Kaves, circa 1985.

Piecebooks—also known 'black books'—were a fundamental tool in the art practice of graffiti writers during Hip Hop's golden age. In their piecebooks, writers would practice lettering and draft plans for upcoming works; piecebooks would also be used to collect the tags of fellow writers and occasionally, would even be traded amongst the community. This piecebook page, "Rock the Bells," is a young Kaves' interpretation of the third single from LL Cool J's 1985 debut, Radio that peaked at #17 on the Billboard charts—perfectly capturing the way piecebooks were used by graffiti writers as living documents, archiving their experiences and interests in real time.

Michael McLeer started his career as a graffiti writer in winter of 1979 at the age of 10. Hanging from the beam of an elevated B train, McLeer wrote "Kaves" in aerosol paint for the first time and began an artists journey that would take him from subway tunnels to museums galleries in just a few decades. In 1987, some of Kaves' early train writing was captured in Henry Chalfant's Spraycan Art, the follow-up to the 1984 graffiti bible he co-authored with Martha Cooper Subway Art . A multi-hyphenate talent, Kaves would go on to expand his artistic practice as a musician, designer, graphic illustrator, brand consultant, tattoo artist, photographer, actor, and filmmaker in the coming years. Kaves founded the Hip Hop group Lordz of Brooklyn with his DJ brother Adam, ADMoney, in 1989 introducing new modes of rap lyricism stemming from their experiences as Italian-Irish kids from South Brooklyn. Across disciplines, Kaves has collaborated with: Audemars Piguet, Jaguar, NIKE, MTV, ADIDAS, Beaujolais Nouveau, Beastie Boys, and Metallica.