Charlie Ahearn (born 1951) is an American
film maker
Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through screenwriting, casti ...
living in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. Although predominantly involved in film and
video art
Video art is an art form which relies on using video technology as a visual and audio medium. Video art emerged during the late 1960s as new consumer video technology such as video tape recorders became available outside corporate broadcasting ...
production, he is also known for his work as an author, freelance writer, member of
Colab
Colab is the commonly used abbreviation of the New York City artists' group Collaborative Projects, which was formed after a series of open meetings between artists of various disciplines.
History
Colab members came together as a collective in ...
, and radio host. He is married to the painter
Jane Dickson and is the twin brother to the sculptor
John Ahearn
John Ahearn (born 1951) is an American sculptor. He is best known for the public art and street art he made in South Bronx in the 1980s.
Life and art
Ahearn grew up in Binghamton, New York, with his twin brother Charlie Ahearn, who is a film d ...
.
Life and work
Charlie Ahearn came to
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
in 1973 to attend the
Whitney Museum of American Art
The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is an art museum in the Meatpacking District and West Village neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1930 by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (1875–194 ...
Independent Study Program (Studio Program). Later he was joined by his brother John and joined the artists' group
Colab
Colab is the commonly used abbreviation of the New York City artists' group Collaborative Projects, which was formed after a series of open meetings between artists of various disciplines.
History
Colab members came together as a collective in ...
(aka Collaborative Projects) which was a group determined to go beyond the traditional art world gallery system and find a way to "be creative in a larger sense".
For several years during the 1970s Ahearn, then living in downtown Manhattan, concentrated on making 16 millimeter
art film
An art film (or arthouse film) is typically an independent film, aimed at a niche market rather than a mass market audience. It is "intended to be a serious, artistic work, often experimental and not designed for mass appeal", "made primarily f ...
s. In 1977 he went to the
Alfred E. Smith Projects in the Lower East Side to film local youths practice martial arts with his
Super 8 camera, which exposed him to
hip-hop for the first time.
[Ahearn, Charlie, ''Wild Style: The Sampler''. Powerhouse Publishing, 2007] Ahearn was approached by some of these local youths who wanted to make a
martial arts
Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; combat sport, competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; a ...
film, and Ahearn agreed despite never having attended film school and not knowing how to make a feature-length film. Yet he took inspiration from some of his favorite
kung fu film
Kung fu film () is a subgenre of martial arts films and Hong Kong action cinema set in the contemporary period and featuring realistic martial arts. It lacks the fantasy elements seen in ''wuxia'', a related martial arts genre that uses historical ...
s, such as ''
36 Chambers'', ''
Mad Monkey Kung Fu
''Mad Monkey Kung Fu'' is a 1979 Shaw Brothers kung fu film directed by Lau Kar-leung.
Later, the film was released on DVD by Dragon Dynasty.
Besides directing Mad Monkey Kung Fu, Lau Kar-Leung, (also known as Liu Chia-liang) debuts as a lead ...
'', and ''
Five Deadly Venoms''; as well as the films of
Bruce Lee.
[Charlie Ahearn interview from WBAI99.5FM (http://www.hiphopmusic.com/2007/06/a_conversation_with_charlie_ah.html)]
Ahearn showed this martial arts film as part of ''
The Times Square Show
''The Times Square Show'' was an influential collaborative, self-curated, and self-generated art exhibition held by New York artists' group Colab (aka Collaborative Projects, Inc) in Times Square in a shuttered massage parlor at 201 W. 41st and 7t ...
'' in an abandoned massage parlor that
Colab
Colab is the commonly used abbreviation of the New York City artists' group Collaborative Projects, which was formed after a series of open meetings between artists of various disciplines.
History
Colab members came together as a collective in ...
had taken over on the corner of 7th Avenue and 41st Street in the then rather shady
Times Square
Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment hub, and neighborhood in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is formed by the junction of Broadway, Seventh Avenue, and 42nd Street. Together with adjacent ...
area. Ahearn soon after was living nearby on 43rd Street and 8th Avenue (from 1981 to 1993).
''Wild Style''
In the summer of 1980 Ahearn began working with
Fred Braithwaite
Fred Brathwaite (born August 31, 1959), more popularly known as Fab 5 Freddy, is an American visual artist, filmmaker, and hip hop pioneer. He is considered one of the architects of the street art movement. Freddy emerged in New York's downtown ...
and
Lee Quiñones on what was later to become a classic hip-hop feature-length film: ''
Wild Style
''Wild Style'' is a 1983 American hip hop film directed and produced by Charlie Ahearn. Regarded as the first hip hop motion picture, it includes appearances by seminal figures such as Fab Five Freddy, Lee Quiñones, Lady Pink, The Rock Stea ...
''. The film took its name from the
graffiti
Graffiti (plural; singular ''graffiti'' or ''graffito'', the latter rarely used except in archeology) is art that is written, painted or drawn on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from s ...
painting style of the same name: a style that is very symbolically described as an "energetic interlocking construction of letters with arrows and others that signify movement and direction". Also in the movie was karate instructor Nathan Ingram (karate). ''Wild Style'' premièred in 1983 in Times Square, breaking records by selling out at all screenings in the three weeks it played. The highly successful soundtrack of the film, which was composed entirely from scratch to avoid copyrights clearances, was produced by Fred Braithwaite, in collaboration with
Chris Stein of chart-topping rock act
Blondie.
Grandmaster Theodore mixed the album and
Grandmaster Caz wrote the lyrics.
''Wild Style'' and its
soundtrack
A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...
have since been regarded as the most accurate portrait of
hip-hop culture and has been sited as the definitive hip-hop film. Its popularity quickly spread throughout the world.
Ahearn transferred his
hip-hop archive, including detailed ''
Wild Style
''Wild Style'' is a 1983 American hip hop film directed and produced by Charlie Ahearn. Regarded as the first hip hop motion picture, it includes appearances by seminal figures such as Fab Five Freddy, Lee Quiñones, Lady Pink, The Rock Stea ...
'' production notes, artwork, photographs, and audio and video recordings, to the
Cornell University
Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...
Hip-Hop Collection in 2012.
Musical shorts
Ahearn has worked on a series of musical shorts. There include:
*''Bongo Barbershop'' (8 minutes, 2005) starring
Grandmaster Caz in a battle with
Balozi Dola, a
Tanzanian
Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...
emcee.
*''Busy on the Beach'' (4 minutes, 2006) that features
Busy Bee Starski taking the audience on a tour of his
Baltimore
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
neighborhood.
*''Brothers Fantastic'' (7 minutes, 2007) featuring Master Rob and Waterbed Kevie Kev from the Fantastic Freaks.
(These shorts were included on the 25-year anniversary edition of the Wild Style DVD, released in 2007 from
Rhino Entertainment
Rhino Entertainment Company is an American specialty record label and production company founded in 1978. It is currently the catalog division for Warner Music Group. Its current CEO is Mark Pinkus.
History
Founded in 1978, Rhino was originall ...
)
*''Busy On The Autobahn'' (11 minutes, 2008) featuring
Busy Bee Starski and Ahearn himself.
Books and radio programs
''Yes Yes, Y'all'' is an oral history of the first decade of hip-hop book by Ahearn published in 2002 by
Da Capo Press
Da Capo Press is an American publishing company with headquarters in Boston, Massachusetts. It is now an imprint of Hachette Books.
History
Founded in 1964 as a publisher of music books, as a division of Plenum Publishers, it had additional of ...
with over 100 photos.
To celebrate the 25th anniversary of ''
Wild Style
''Wild Style'' is a 1983 American hip hop film directed and produced by Charlie Ahearn. Regarded as the first hip hop motion picture, it includes appearances by seminal figures such as Fab Five Freddy, Lee Quiñones, Lady Pink, The Rock Stea ...
'', Ahearn also wrote the book ''Wild Style: The Sampler'', published by Powerhouse Books in 2007.
In 2005, Ahearn hosted a weekly talk-music
internet radio
Online radio (also web radio, net radio, streaming radio, e-radio, IP radio, Internet radio) is a digital audio service transmitted via the Internet. Broadcasting on the Internet is usually referred to as webcasting since it is not transmitted ...
show on
New York's Museum of Modern Art's WPS1.org called ''Yes Yes, Y'all'', with guests such as
Biz Markie
Marcel Theo Hall (April 8, 1964 – July 16, 2021), known professionally as Biz Markie, was an American rapper, singer, songwriter, DJ, and record producer. Markie was best known for his 1989 single "Just a Friend", which became a Top 40 hit in ...
,
Afrika Bambaataa,
Rammellzee
Rammellzee (stylized RAMM:ΣLL:ZΣΣ, pronounced "Ram: Ell: Zee"; December 15, 1960 – June 28, 2010) was a visual artist, gothic futurist "graffiti writer", painter, performance artist, art theoretician, sculptor and a hip hop musician from Ne ...
,
Grandmaster Caz, and many more hip-hop icons from 1970 to 1990.
[WPS1.org (http://www/wps1.org/include/shows/yes_yes_yall.html)]
Footnotes
References
*
Carlo McCormick
Carlo McCormick is an American culture critic and curator living in New York City. He is the author of numerous books, monographs and catalogues on contemporary art and artists.
Pedagogic and art writing activities
McCormick was Senior Edito ...
, ''The Downtown Book: The New York Art Scene, 1974–1984'', Princeton University Press, 2006.
External links
Artist's websiteOfficial movie website for Wild StyleCharlie Ahearn Interview on DJ SUN's Soular Grooves radio show 10.26.13
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ahearn, Charlie
1951 births
Living people
Artists from Binghamton, New York
Film directors from New York City