Patti Astor, who co-founded the renowned Fun Gallery in New York City, has passed away at the age of 74. She was known for her advocacy of graffiti and street art as legitimate forms of art, as well as for her involvement in the influential film Wild Style. In 2014 I received an autographed copy of her biography. Filled back to back with great photographs of her life in the hip-hop scene.

A woman poses with one hand on her hip against a graffiti backdrop. Text reads FUN GALLERY…the true story BY PATTI ASTOR. Three people pose in front of a colorful graffiti wall with the words WILD STYLE written. The man in the center wears a red jacket and a cap. Text in Japanese is overlaid. A page with a title FUN GALLERY... THE TRUE STORY by Patti Astor. Below, a handwritten signature in pink ink reads xx Patti Astor with 2014 flanked by asterisks.

The STRAAT museum in Amsterdam is a continuation of the vision Patti Astor had, to show how graffiti is a legitimate form of art. If you have the chance to visit this incredible museum, you will not regret it. See my own (Dutch) review in the archives…