Art

Buy this Book

Local store | Online store

We Own the Night: The Art of the Underbelly Project

Written by Workhorse and PAC, Foreword by Haze

Pub Date: February 7, 2012
Format: Hardcover
Category: Art - Graffiti & Street Art
Publisher: Rizzoli
Trim Size: 9 x 12
US Price: $50.00
CAN Price: $50.00
ISBN: 978-0-7893-2495-5

About This Book

From early 2009 to mid-2010, the Underbelly Project was the world’s best-kept urban art secret. This is the only book documenting the project, during which the world’s leading urban artists, such as Swoon, Faile, Revok, and Lister, made late-night trips to an abandoned New York City subway station, painting night after night to transform the space into the largest underground art gallery in the world.

When curators Workhorse and PAC declared the project finished, there was no opening to show the work. In fact, the space’s location remains a secret kept by the MTA, which boarded up the space, making it, like the cave of Lascaux, a time capsule for future generations to discover.

The book includes three hundred photographs documenting the project and the participating artists’ stories of secret expeditions, ranging from the hilarious to the suspenseful. With texts from artists such as Dan Witz, Elbow Toe, Jeff Soto, Miya Ando, and Ron English, the result is an extraordinary contribution to urban history and the annals of street art.

About the Author

Workhorse is a New York–based urban artist who has shown his work around the world. He considers the Underbelly Project the ultimate forum to spotlight urban subculture. PAC is a native New Yorker, artist, and activist. His artwork revolves around the intersection of public and private media in our shared environments. Eric Haze aka HAZE is a well-known New York graffiti artist and designer. Some of his works include the now iconic early hip-hop logos for Public Enemy, EPMD, LL Cool J, and others.

Author Bookshelf

Workhorse

We Own the Night: The Art of the Underbelly Project

Author Bookshelf

PAC

We Own the Night: The Art of the Underbelly Project

Reviews

"The book, most significantly, let's us view the underbelly project with an unprecedented degree of completion. Workhorse and PAC closed the doors to the station after they deemed the painting complete. There was no exhibition, no opening, and only small glimpses of its glory emerged for public consumption —just a few articles and an exhibition. The remarkable thing about the project, aside from simply discovering uncharted territory beneath NYC, is the breadth of of contributors to this secret, subterranean gallery." ~Complex

"In the new book We Own the Night, one hundred artists and their works are documented in over two hundred images exploring the space and the process of the Underbelly project. The gallery’s location remains a secret kept by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, making it a time capsule for future generations." ~The Last Magazine

"This book itself then becomes a testament to art for its own sake, an artifact of a project that posed the provocative question: 'If no one will see it, will it still be important?'" ~Publishers Weekly

From the Trade Paperback edition.

bookmark, share, and shelve: