Richard Hambleton

Richard Hambleton (1952-2017) is widely considered the “Godfather of Street Art.”  His contemporaries included Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring and Andy Warhol. He was initially recognized for his Mass Murder Series where he created bloody “crime scenes” with splattered red paint outlining the forms of “homicide victims."   His early series, I Only Have Eyes For You, of stenciled self-portraits pasted throughout the city, also brought him recognition.

The printed images were fragile and impermanent, eventually fading into “white shadows."  He went on to cover the streets with his legendary Shadowmen - quickly executed black painted silhouette figures which lurked in unexpected corners and alleys.  These images became synonymous with 1980s New York. Later he translated these figures to canvas and paper and developed his popular Horse and Rider - Rodeo themed artworks.