Torrick Ablack aka Toxic (American, born 1965). <em>Ransom Note: CEE</em>, 1984. Spray paint on canvas, 61 1/2 x 52 1/2 in. (156.2 x 133.4 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Carroll Janis and Conrad Janis, 1999.57.20. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1999.57.20_SL3.jpg)

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Torrick Ablack aka Toxic (American, born 1965). Ransom Note: CEE, 1984. Spray paint on canvas, 61 1/2 x 52 1/2 in. (156.2 x 133.4 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Carroll Janis and Conrad Janis, 1999.57.20. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1999.57.20_SL3.jpg)

Download our app and ask your own questions during your visit. Here are some that others have asked.

Is this actual street art or was it made for the museum?

These works were made specifically for exhibition in an art gallery. In the early 1980s, collectors' interest in graffiti art was rising quickly, and some influential art dealers approached NYC graffiti artists and asked them to make canvases that could be shown indoors.

Street art as actual "Art" was a controversial issue at the time, when graffiti was still a big problem around the city. The people responsible for street art were seen as vandals, and their work wasn't seen as anything worthwhile. Art critics and viewers alike thought this wasn't suitable material for an art gallery.

I have a great quote from a New York Times review from 1983, for a show at the Sidney Janis Gallery (a gallery that championed graffiti as art).

"...there's much to be said for encouraging some of these potentially talented kids to turn their efforts into more constructive channels. But pushing a few into the money jungle of the art world (some are 18, 17 and even 14) before they are ready will not solve anything. By and large, their products are as much an eyesore on canvas as they are on the trains."

This feels like the 90's. Where did graffiti art originate and why?

This work is from 1984 but the 80s style of street art definitely carried over into the culture of the 90s.

In the early 1980s, graffiti art was a new trend among contemporary art collectors, and some influential art dealers approached NYC graffiti artists and asked them to make canvases that could be shown indoors.

Graffiti comes from the Italian word "graffito" and was used to signify writings or scratching on walls. Writing on walls has been popular since ancient times (examples exist in Greece, Rome and Egypt). You can even see some ancient graffiti in the Mummy Chamber on the third floor of this museum!

Ransom Note: CEE

Torrick Ablack aka Toxic

Contemporary Art

ARTIST Torrick Ablack aka Toxic, American, born 1965

MEDIUM Spray paint on canvas

DATES 1984

DIMENSIONS 61 1/2 x 52 1/2 in. (156.2 x 133.4 cm) (show scale)

COLLECTIONS Contemporary Art

ACCESSION NUMBER 1999.57.20

CREDIT LINE Gift of Carroll Janis and Conrad Janis

EXHIBITIONS

MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view

CAPTION Torrick Ablack aka Toxic (American, born 1965). Ransom Note: CEE, 1984. Spray paint on canvas, 61 1/2 x 52 1/2 in. (156.2 x 133.4 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Carroll Janis and Conrad Janis, 1999.57.20. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1999.57.20_SL3.jpg)

IMAGE overall, 1999.57.20_SL3.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2022

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Copyright for this work may be controlled by the artist, the artist's estate, or other rights holders. A more detailed analysis of its rights history may, however, place it in the public domain. The Museum does not warrant that the use of this work will not infringe on the rights of third parties. It is your responsibility to determine and satisfy copyright or other use restrictions before copying, transmitting, or making other use of protected items beyond that allowed by "fair use," as such term is understood under the United States Copyright Act. For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.

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Download our app and ask your own questions during your visit. Here are some that others have asked.

Is this actual street art or was it made for the museum?

I have a great quote from a New York Times review from 1983, for a show at the Sidney Janis Gallery (a gallery that championed graffiti as art).

This feels like the 90's. Where did graffiti art originate and why?

This work is from 1984 but the 80s style of street art definitely carried over into the culture of the 90s.