Charlie Ahearn (director)

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Charlie Ahearn is a film director and creative cultural artist currently living in New York City. He was born 1951 upstate New York in Binghamton [1]. Although predominantly involved in film- and video production, Ahearn is also known for his work as a book author, freelance writer and radio host among other things. He is married to painter Jane Dickson.

[edit] Film work

Charlie Ahearn came to New York City in 1973 to attend the Whitney Museum of American Art Studio Program. Later he was joined by his twin brother John Ahearn and they became part of an artists' movement called Co-Lab - short for Collaborative Projects, a collective determined to go beyond the traditional art world and galleries and find a way to “be creative in a larger sense” [2]. Ahearn, then living in downtown Manhattan, was making 16mm art films for several years up through the 70's and finally got exposed to hip hop around '78, after going to the Alfred E. Smith projects in the Lower East Side in '77 to film local kids practice martial arts with his Super8 camera [3]. There he saw murals by graffiti artist George "Lee" Quinones and started filming them alongside the local kids doing break dance [4]. Something that was to influence his artistic output in the following years.
At this point he was approached by some of these local kids that wanted to do a martial arts movie and Ahearn agreed, although he did not know how to make a feature length movie and never went to film school. Being inspired by some of his favorite kung-fu movies such as 36 Chambers, Mad Monkey Kung-Fu and Five Deadly Venoms – as well as the movies of Bruce Lee in general [5], he wrote, directed and produced the movie titled The Deadly Art of Survival [6], in 1978-1979 in Super8 format [7] featuring Nathan Ingram, a martial arts instructor (and for many a role model) who lived in the Lower East Side and had struggled to teach local kids discipline and self-respect and establish a martial arts school by the same name of the movie [8].
Subsequently, Ahearn was showing the movie in an abandoned massage parlor that Co-Lab had taken over on the corner of 7th Avenue and 41st Street in the then rather shady Times Square area, (where Ahearn also moved to live from 1981-1993 on 43rd Street and 8th Avenue) [9]. Co-Lab's art show - titled The Times Square Show - had a strong street orientation and included all kinds of street art including graffiti - introducing among other artists such as Jean-Michel Basquiat, Kenny Scharf and Keith Haring [10]. At this point Ahearn was approached by graffiti artist Fred Braithwaite, (later known as Fab 5 Freddy), who wanted to do a movie about graffiti as an art form and hip hop, as being a broad culture encompassing rap music, graffiti and breakdance. Specifically, Fred knew Lee Quinones, whose murials Ahearn had long been admiring and someone he wanted to film. Next day, Fred brought Lee in to meet Ahearn - and the three started talking about doing a hip-hop movie.
Soon after the meeting, Brathwaite and Ahearn attended a jam in a north Bronx neighborhood called The Valley, where Chief Rocker Busy Bee Starski, who was later to appear in several of Ahearn's productions, was performing on stage as an MC. Ahearn approached him next to the stage asking whether he would interested in being part of the hip-hop movie project - an inquiry to which Busy Bee replied to by immediately taking Ahearn on stage and announcing on the PA that they were to do a hip-hop movie together, thereby making the cooperation publicly known and closing the deal in a street manner very typical of the spirit of the Bronx in those days [11].

As a result, in the summer of 1980 Ahearn began working with Brathwaite and Quinones on what was later to be a hip-hop classic feature length movie by the name of Wild Style, taking its name from the graffiti painting style of the same name; a style that very symbolically is described as an “energetic interlocking construction of letters with arrows and others that signify movement and direction” [12]. Ahearn wrote, directed and produced the movie, wanting to document go beyond fiction and documentaries and make a movie that showed real people doing real things – as well portray the visual explosion seen in New York at the time in the shape of graffiti that fascinated Ahearn so much [13] – also in particular because of the originality of hip-hop [14]. Also, in the light of his creative and natural activist approach to art, Ahearn saw a chance to touch upon more general topics such as the classic conflict between art and commerce [15].
Wild Style screened two years later in 1982 [16], and later premiered in 1983 In Times Square, breaking all records where it sold out screenings throughout the three weeks it played there [17].
Wild Style featured - alongside Quinones in the lead role and Lady Pink and Fab 5 Freddy in supporting roles - such prominent rap music, break dance and graffiti history key figures as Cold Crush Brothers (J.D.L., Grandmaster Caz, Almighty K.G., Easy A.D., DJ Charlie Chase & DJ Tony Tone), The Fantastic Freaks (Waterbed Kevie Kev, Prince Whipper Whip, Ruby Dee, Dot-a-Rock, Master Rob & DJ Grand Wizard Theodore), Zephyr, Dondi, Futura, Grand Mixer D.St., Rock Steady Crew (Frosty Freeze, Prince Ken Swift, Take One, Mr. Freeze & Crazy Legs), Rammellzee, Shockdell, Double Trouble (Rodney Cee, K.K. Rockwell & DJ Stevie Steve), Busy Bee, DJ AJ and last, but not least, Grandmaster Flash (3), although part of his performance scenes featuring his Furious Five crew had to be cut out of the released version for technical reasons.
The highly successful soundtrack of the movie, that was composed entirely from scratch to secure easy rights clearance, was produced by Fab 5 Freddy in collaboration with Chris Stein of chart-topping rock act Blondie [18], whose lead singer Debbie Harry Fab 5 Freddy had met earlier and developed a friendship with. Grandmaster Theodore mixed the album and Grandmaster Caz wrote the lyrics (5).
Wild Style - as well as it's soundtrack - has since been regarded as the most accurate portrait of hip-hop culture right at its inception [19] – even named ‘the definite hip-hop film” [20] - and it's popularity quickly spread to even the furthest reaches of the world, as shown by the fact that Ahearn and a select group of actors and performers from the movie, including Fab 5 Freddy, Busy Bee, Rock Steady Crew as well as others not appearing in the movie, including the legendary DJ Afrika Islam and graf writer Doze - a travel party of over 30 people - were invited to Japan in 1983 to promote both the movie as well as hip-hop in general [21].
Later, in 1992, moving on to other projects, Ahearn's video Doin’ Time In Times Square was shown at the New York Film Festival [22]. He also produced a series of Artist Portrait Videos (on Kiki Smith, Tom Otterness, his brother John Ahearn, Martin Wong, Jane Dickson and Leon Golub)(13). Shortly before the turn of the century, he then wrote and directed his next feature film ‘Fear of Fiction’, which opened in July 2000 [23].
Recent presentations include “Cinema Outlaws” a two person screening talk with Ahearn and John Waters at The Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art; “Under One Groove” a two person photo exhibition with Ahearn and Jamel Shabazz at MU Eindhoven Netherlands; “Art In The Age of Hip Hop” and a two person talk with Ahearn and Fred Braithwaite at The School of The Art Institute of Chicago [24].

In the new millennium Ahearn has been working on a series of musical shorts with some of the stars from Wild Style. Bongo Barbershop (8 minutes, 2005) stars pioneer Grand Master Caz in a battle with Balozi Dola, a Tanzanian rapper rhyming back in his native Swahili. Busy On The Beach (4 minutes, 2006) features The Chief Rocker Busy Bee rocking the bullhorn as he takes us on a tour of his Baltimore hood nicknamed The Beach. Brothers Fantastic (7 minutes, 2007) takes its audience home with Master Rob and Kevie Kev from The Fantastic Freaks [25] - all of which are included on the 25-year anniversary edition release of Wild Style on dvd in 2007.
Since then Ahearn has also produced the short Busy On The Autobahn (11 minutes, 2008) showing Busy Bee and Charlie A on the Wild Style Euro club tour [26] and further, excerpts of his footage was used at the 2nd Annual VH1 Hip-Hop Honors 2005 in music channel VH1.

[edit] Other projects

In 2000 Ahearn went to Seattle to the Experience Music Project to show Wild Style, and began a book collaboration with EMP director Jim Fricke, after comparing Ahearn's old photos with Fricke's old flyers from hip-hop jams and agreed to put a book together where the flyers and photos were put back to back with a story [27]. The title of the book was to be ‘Yes Yes Y’all’, and it was published in 2002 by Da Capo Press as an oral history of the first decade of hip hop with over a 100 photos [28]. Ahearn’s photos have also been exhibited at Jeffrey Deitch in New York, Monique Meloche in Chicago, Prosper Tokyo and The Hospital in London [29] as well as having been used in the 2004 mini-series "And You Don't Stop: 30 Years of Hip-Hop" [30]. Throughout his career Ahearn has photographed alongside such famous photographers as Henry Chalfant, Martha Cooper and Joe Conzo [31].

In writing, Ahearn over the years has produced articles and appeared as co-author on various topics including art, music and hip hop for various publishers such as Powerhouse Publishing (titles include ‘No Sleep ‘till Brooklyn’, Jamel Shabazz’ ‘A Time Before Crack’, ‘Public Access: Ricky Powell Photographs 1985-2005’), From Here To Fame Publishing (titles ‘The Hip Hop Files’) as well as for magazines Interview, Spin and Paper. To celebrate Wild Style’s 25th anniversary Ahearn also wrote Wild Style The Sampler, published by Powerhouse Books in 2007, a book chock full of stories and photos of the journey of Wild Style [32].

Ahearn hosted a weekly talk/music internet radio show on New York’s Museum of Modern Art’s WPS1.org in 2005 called “Yes Yes Y’all” with guests such as Biz Markie, Africa Bambaataa, Rammellzee, Grand Master Caz and many more of the hip-hop icons of the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s [33].
He has also been a professor at Pace University in New York City teaching “Hip Hop, Art and Design”, “Picturing Art” and an School of Visual Art class called “Street Art” [34].

Ahearn has furthermore been appointed honoree at VH1's 4th Annual VH1 Hip-Hop Honors TV-show in New York in 2007. Other tv- and film appearances as himself include Just to Get a Rep (2004), Through the Years of Hip Hop, Vol. 1: Graffiti (2002), "SexTV" (1 episode, 1999) and Time Square Clean-Up (1999)[35].

[edit] References

  1. ^ Unpublished Charlie Ahearn biography by Charlie Ahearn
  2. ^ Chang, Jeff (2005): Can't Stop, Won't Stop. Picador Publishing
  3. ^ Ahearn, Charlie (2007): Wild Style The Sampler. Powerhouse Publishing
  4. ^ Charlie Ahearn interview by JayQuan (http://www.jayquan.com/charliea.htm)
  5. ^ Charlie Ahearn interview from WBAI99.5FM (http://www.hiphopmusic.com/2007/06/a_conversation_with_charlie_ah.html)
  6. ^ IMDB.com website (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084904/)
  7. ^ Charlie Ahearn interview by JayQuan (http://www.jayquan.com/charliea.htm)
  8. ^ Ahearn, Charlie (2007): Wild Style The Sampler. Powerhouse Publishing
  9. ^ Charlie Ahearn interview by Kai Eric (http://www.brink.com/gallery/2319)
  10. ^ Chang, Jeff (2005): Can't Stop, Won't Stop. Picador Publishing
  11. ^ Charlie Ahearn interview by JayQuan (http://www.jayquan.com/charliea.htm)
  12. ^ Cooper, Martha & Chalfant, Henry (1988): Subway Art. Holt Paperbacks
  13. ^ Charlie Ahearn interview from WBAI99.5FM (http://www.hiphopmusic.com/2007/06/a_conversation_with_charlie_ah.html)
  14. ^ Charlie Ahearn interview by Brolin Winning (http://www.mp3.com/features/stories/10483.html)
  15. ^ Charlie Ahearn interview from WBAI99.5FM (http://www.hiphopmusic.com/2007/06/a_conversation_with_charlie_ah.html)
  16. ^ Unpublished Charlie Ahearn biography by Charlie Ahearn
  17. ^ Cooper, Martha (2004): The Hip-Hop Files. From Here To Fame Publishing
  18. ^ Chang, Jeff (2005): Can't Stop, Won't Stop. Picador Publishing
  19. ^ Chang, Jeff (2005): Can't Stop, Won't Stop. Picador Publishing
  20. ^ Emery, Andrew (2004): The Book of Hip Hop Cover Art. Octopus Publishing
  21. ^ Ahearn, Charlie (2007): Wild Style The Sampler. Powerhouse Publishing
  22. ^ Unpublished Charlie Ahearn biography by Charlie Ahearn
  23. ^ Unpublished Charlie Ahearn biography by Charlie Ahearn
  24. ^ Unpublished Charlie Ahearn biography by Charlie Ahearn
  25. ^ Unpublished Charlie Ahearn biography by Charlie Ahearn
  26. ^ Unpublished Charlie Ahearn biography by Charlie Ahearn
  27. ^ Charlie Ahearn interview by JayQuan (http://www.jayquan.com/charliea.htm)
  28. ^ Da Capo Books/Perseus Books group website (http://www.perseusbooksgroup.com/features/yesyesyall/)
  29. ^ Unpublished Charlie Ahearn biography by Charlie Ahearn
  30. ^ IMDB.com website (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084904/)
  31. ^ Ahearn, Charlie (2007): Wild Style The Sampler. Powerhouse Publishing
  32. ^ Ahearn, Charlie (2007): Wild Style The Sampler. Powerhouse Publishing
  33. ^ WPS1.org website (http://www.wps1.org/include/shows/yes_yes_yall.html)
  34. ^ Unpublished Charlie Ahearn biography by Charlie Ahearn
  35. ^ IMDB.com website (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084904/)
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