APOLLO THEATRE
The Harlem streets were already a show. The Apollo was a show like no other.
This piece began with a photograph of the Apollo Theatre, but something was missing for me.
The photograph showed the building, but it didn’t capture the flavor, energy and fun I remembered surrounding it. So when I recreated the image, I wasn’t interested in simply reproducing what the camera had captured. I wanted to put some of that feeling back into it.
I created two interpretations of the scene—one during the day and another in the evening.
That was important because the Apollo wasn’t a place I associated with only one moment or one atmosphere. During the day, it was part of the movement and personality of 125th Street. In the evening, the lights, marquee, traffic and people gave that same stretch of Harlem another kind of energy.
Together, the two versions represent different moods of a place that remained unmistakably the Apollo.
The Apollo holds a lot of good memories for me.
Going there wasn’t only about what was happening on the stage. The experience started outside on 125th Street. Harlem already had its own style and personality, but on nights at the Apollo, people would show up to show out—fashion wise.
You came looking right because you knew everybody else would too.
Then there was what happened inside. Amateur Night brought new talent to the stage, and established artists could show up and add even more excitement to the night. You never knew exactly what kind of moment you might experience.
The performers were part of the show.
But so was Harlem.
That’s what I wanted these pieces to capture—not simply images of a famous theater, but some of the energy I remember surrounding it.
The clothes. The people. The anticipation. The new talent. The established artists. The lights. 125th Street.
All of it contributed to what the Apollo represented in my Harlem.
That’s why I think of it as:
Harlem’s Hippodrome.
JECK ONE — Graffiti Contemporary.
This product is made especially for you as soon as you place an order, which is why it takes us a bit longer to deliver it to you.
• Ayous wood .75″ (1.9 cm) thick frame from renewable forests
• Paper thickness: 10.3 mil (0.26 mm)
• Paper weight: 189 g/m²
• Lightweight
• Acrylite front protector
• Hanging hardware included
• Blank product components in the US sourced from Japan and the US
• Blank product components in the EU sourced from Japan and Latvia
This product is made especially for you as soon as you place an order, which is why it takes us a bit longer to deliver it to you.
