The Children’s Museum of the Arts presents the most comprehensive collection of works to-date by visionary artist and MC, RAMMELLZEE. Entitled The RAMMELLZEE Galaxseum, the exhibition will reveal the inner workings of RAMMELLZEE’s artistic vision and trace his career trajectory which began in the 1970s as a pioneering “Wild Style” graffiti writer and hip hop MC and evolved in manifesto and medium to the far reaches of the imagination.
RAMMELLZEE’s legend grew in a Tribeca loft known as the “Battle Station,” where the artist conceived a new vision for the future – a self-made mythology known as Gothic Futurism with its own set of heroes and villains which he called Recyclers and Trashers or more notably, Garbage Gods and Monster Models. For over 30 years, RAMMELLZEE inhabited the universe he created, building layer upon layer of legend and legacy.
The RAMMELLZEE Galaxseum showcases a visual encyclopedia of RAMMELLZEE’s artworks including full-body life-sized costumes, masks, character frescoes, figurines, large scale paintings and video and audio recordings from some of his performances. Suspended from the gallery’s ceiling are RAMMELLZEE’s legendary letter racers, or car-like vehicles representing letters of the alphabet seeking to “break free.”
Shun-U The Loan Sharker
In addition to his visual artwork, RAMMELLZEE is well-known for his contributions to hip-hop lyricism and vocalization, as illustrated in the documentaries Style Wars and Wild Style, as well as the hip-hop single Beat Bop, which was produced by Jean-Michael Basquiat and consists of a 10 minute narrative rap by RAMMELLZEE and K-Rob that is considered to be one of the most essential hip-hop recordings ever made.
Take a tour of the RAMMELLZEE Galaxseum here.
Video produced by Grand Canyons
This exhibition was organized with support from the Suzanne Geiss Company and the Estate of RAMMELLZEE. The exhibition was curated by Prescott Trudeau.
Support for this show is generously provided in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.
« Back to Calendar
