Roger Gastman (born 1977 in Canton, Ohio) is an

art dealer An art dealer is a person or company that buys and sells works of art, or acts as the intermediary between the buyers and sellers of art. An art dealer in contemporary art typically seeks out various artists to represent, and builds relationsh ...

curator A curator (from la, cura, meaning "to take care") is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the parti ...

, filmmaker, and publisher who focuses on

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 ...

and street art.

Career

In 1997, Gastman began his career in graffiti culture by selling aerosol paint tips and creating the graffiti magazine ''While You Were Sleeping'.'' In 2004, Gastman moved to Los Angeles and published ''

Swindle Magazine ''Swindle'' was a bi-monthly arts and culture publication founded in 2004 by artist Shepard Fairey. The magazine has not been published since 2009. The magazine had a strong focus on street art and has featured Banksy, Invader, Faile, and Miss ...

'' with

Shepard Fairey Frank Shepard Fairey (born February 15, 1970) is an American contemporary artist, activist and founder of OBEY Clothing who emerged from the skateboarding scene. In 1989 he designed the "Andre the Giant Has a Posse" (...OBEY...) sticker campai ...

. He has worked with a number of prominent

and street artists including

Banksy Banksy is a pseudonymous England-based street artist, political activist and film director whose real name and identity remain unconfirmed and the subject of speculation. Active since the 1990s, his satirical street art and subversive epigram ...

Barry McGee Barry McGee (born 1966) is an American contemporary artist. He is a well known graffiti artist, and a pioneer of the Mission School art movement. McGee is known by his monikers: Twist, Ray Fong, Bernon Vernon, and P.Kin. Life and education Barry ...

, Os Gemeos,

, and

Mister Cartoon Mark Machado, better known as Mr. Cartoon or more commonly just Cartoon, is an American tattoo artist and graffiti artist based in Los Angeles, California. Growing up in the Harbor area of Los Angeles County, young Cartoon began airbrushing T-s ...

. In 2013, Gastman produced ''The Legend of Cool "Disco" Dan,'' a documentary film that premiered at the AFI Theater in Silver Spring, Maryland accompanied by the book ''Pump Me Up: DC Subculture of the 1980s'' and an exhibit of the same name at the

Corcoran Gallery of Art The Corcoran Gallery of Art was an art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, that is now the location of the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design, a part of the George Washington University. Overview The Corcoran School of the Arts & Design ...

. In 2021 he directed ''Rolling Like Thunder'', a documentary film about freight train graffiti produced by Mass Appeal and released on

Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...

''Art In The Streets''

In 2011 Gastman, with MOCA director Jeffrey Dietch and director Aaron Rose, curated a survey of graffiti and street art at the

Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA) is a contemporary art museum with two locations in greater Los Angeles, California. The main branch is located on Grand Avenue in Downtown Los Angeles, near the Walt Disney Concert Hall. MOCA's o ...

titled ''Art in the Streets''. The exhibition featured a wide-range of mediums in separate installations by artists or 'crews' and was held in the 40,00 square foot Geffen building, off-site from MOCA. It included over 60 artists from around the world. The show generated controversy according to the

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

"mostly because some see it as a glorification of vandalism". The LAPD reported an increase in vandalism in the vicinity on buildings, lampposts and mailboxes. Katsu tagged the Geffen building before the opening with a fire-extinguisher and French street artist

Invader ''InVader'' is the fourth album by Finnish glam metal band Reckless Love, released on 4 March 2016 through Spinefarm Records. Track listing All songs written by Olli Herman, Pepe Reckless, and Ikka Wirtanen, unless otherwise noted. Reception Wr ...

was arrested as a result of the show. A second showing of the exhibit scheduled for later in 2011 at the Brooklyn Museum was cancelled. The show is also noteworthy for being the most attended in the history of MOCA.

''Beyond The Streets''

Gastman is the curator and producer of ''Beyond The Streets'', a traveling large-scale exhibition of street art and graffiti. The 2018 Beyond the Streets exhibition was held in downtown Los Angeles, CA, which spanned over 40,000 square feet and featured over 100 artists. The 2019 Beyond the Streets exhibition was held in Brooklyn, New York, showcasing the work of over 150 artists in 100,000 square feet. Beyond the Streets on Paper exhibited at the Southampton Arts Center in 2021. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Gastman partnered wit
NTWRK
to present Beyond the Streets Virtual Art Fair in 2020 and 2021. Beyond the Streets began publishing books in 2018, producing artist monographs such as those of Jason REVOK, fine art hardcovers like '' Beastie Boys Paul's Boutique'', ''Spray Nation'' by

Martha Cooper Martha Cooper is an American photojournalist. She worked as a staff photographer for the ''New York Post'' during the 1970s. She is best known for documenting the New York City graffiti scene of the 1970s and 1980s. In 1984, Cooper and Henry Ch ...

, the limited-edition ''Praesentia'' by Felipe Pantone, and ''Born In The Bronx: A Visual Record of The Early Days of Hip Hop'' by Joe Conzo, Jr.; as well as zines from the likes o
The Perez Bros.
Lady Aiko, an
Ian Reid
among others. In 2022, Gastman opened a permanent Beyond The Streets gallery in Los Angeles, California.

Films

*''Rolling Like Thunder'', a documentary about freight train graffiti, directed by Roger Gastman, produced by Sacha Jenkins, Tim Conlon, and Mass Appeal, 2021 *''Wall Writers: Graffiti in Its Innocence'', a documentary film about 60s and 70s-era graffiti, narrated by

John Waters John Samuel Waters Jr. (born April 22, 1946) is an American filmmaker, writer, actor, and artist. He rose to fame in the early 1970s for his transgressive cult films, including '' Multiple Maniacs'' (1970), '' Pink Flamingos'' (1972) and '' Fe ...

, Director / Executive Producer, 2015 * '' The Legend of Cool "Disco" Dan'', narrated by

Henry Rollins Henry Lawrence Garfield (born February 13, 1961), known professionally as Henry Rollins, is an American singer, writer, spoken word artist, actor, and presenter. After performing in the short-lived hardcore punk band State of Alert in 1980, Roll ...

, Executive Producer, 2012 * ''

Exit Through the Gift Shop ''Exit Through the Gift Shop'' is a 2010 British documentary film directed by street artist Banksy. It tells the story of Thierry Guetta, a French immigrant in Los Angeles who, over the course of several years, filmed a host of street artists a ...

'', produced by

, Consulting Producer, 2010 * ''Infamy'', with director

Doug Pray Doug Pray is an American documentary film director, cinematographer, and editor who often explores unique subcultures in his films. His work includes ''Surfwise'' (2008), a portrait of the nomadic, 11-member Doc Paskowitz family (often referred to ...

, Supervising Producer, 2005

Selected exhibitions

* Beyond the Streets on Paper, Southampton, NY, 2021 * Beyond the Streets, Brooklyn, NY, 2019 * '' Beastie Boys Book'' 'Live & Direct' tour and exhibit, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, London, 2018 * ''Beyond the Streets'', Los Angeles, 2018 * ''Things That Can't Be Seen'', DabsMyla, Los Angeles, 2018 * ''Hello Kitty Con'', MOCA, Los Angeles, 2014 * ''Cruel Summer'', Jonathon Levine Gallery, New York 2014 * ''Pump Me Up: D.C. Subculture of the 1980's'',

, Washington D.C., 2013 * ''Art in the Streets'', MOCA, Los Angeles, 2011

Bibliography

* Gastman, Roger and

, ''Spray Nation'', Beyond the Streets, 2022. * Gastman, Roger (Compiler). With Ryan Bray, Ian Sattler, Trina Calderón, ''9:30: A Time and a Place: The First 35 Years'', R. Rock Enterprises, 2016, *Gastman, Roger (Compiler). With foreword by

. ''Wall Writers: Graffiti in Its Innocence'', Gingko Press, 2015 *Gastman, Roger and Bob Gorman (Compilers). ''Let There Be Gwar'' (2015), Gingko Press, 2015 *Gastman, Roger. With Iley Brown, Caleb Neelon, Joseph Pattisall (Compilers) ''Pump Me Up: DC Subculture of the 1980s'', Corcoran Gallery of Art, 2013 *Fulcher, Zio. Roger Gastman, Jamie Rivadeneira (Compilers), ''Hello Kitty: Hello Art. Works of Art Inspired by Sanrio Characters'', Abrams, 2012 *Gastman, Roger. ''The Worst of While You Were Sleeping'' by Gastman, Schiffer Books, 2012 *Gastman, Roger,

Jeffrey Deitch Jeffrey Deitch (pronounced ''DIE-tch'';Mike Boehm (January 12, 2010)L.A.'s MOCA picks art dealer Jeffrey Deitch as director''Los Angeles Times''. born 1952) is an American art dealer and curator. He is best known for his gallery Deitch Projects ( ...

, and Aaron Rose (Compilers). ''Art in the Streets'', Skira Rizzoli/MOCA, 2011 *Gastman, Roger and Caleb Neelon, with foreword by

TAKI 183 TAKI 183 is the "tag" of a Greek-American graffitist who was active during the late 1960s and early 1970s in New York City. The graffitist, whose given name is Demetrios, has never revealed his full name. Biography TAKI 183 was a graffiti tagge ...

, ''The History of American Graffiti'',

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News ...

, 2010. *Gastman, Roger (Compiler). ''Juxtapoz Illustration; Juxtapoz Tattoo; Juxtapoz Poster Art; Juxtapoz Car Culture'', Gingko Press, 2008–2009 * Mullen, Brendan. With Roger Gastman, ''Live at the Masque: Nightmare in Punk Alley'', Gingko Press, 2007 *Gastman, Roger, Caleb Neelon and Anthony Smyrski,''Street World: Urban Art & Culture From Five Continents'', US Edition Abrams, 2007; UK edition Thames & Hudson, Ltd., 2007; Spanish edition, Oceano, 2007; French edition Pyramid, 2007; German edition National Geographic, 2007. *Gastman, Roger, Darin Rowland and Ian Sattler, ''Freight Train Graffiti'', Abrams, 2006; UK edition Thames & Hudson, 2006 *Gastman, Roger (Compiler). ''Morning Wood'', Gingko Press, 2003 *Gastman, Roger (Compiler) ''Free Agents: A History of Washington, DC Graffiti'', R. Rock Enterprises &

Soft Skull Press Counterpoint LLC was a publishing company distributed by Perseus Books Group launched in 2007. It was formed from the consolidation of three presses: Perseus' Counterpoint Press, Avalon Publishing Group's Shoemaker & Hoard and the independent S ...

, 2001

Magazines

*''While You Were Sleeping, ''1997–2002 *'' Swindle,'' 2004–2009

References

External links

* *
Wall Writers The Movie

The Legend of Cool Disco Dan

Interview with Roger Gastman

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gastman, Roger People from Bethesda, Maryland 1977 births Living people