The United Kings, Atlanta’s first graffiti crew, make their gallery debut this month.
An exhibition, “The Kings Arrive,” will open at Eyedrum in Mechanicsville and run through early December. The show will include original works and photos from the artists dating back to their formation in 1984.
Originally comprising six men — Dwayne “Just One” Devoe, Hackwin “ESKAN” Devoe, Fernando “ESKEME2″ Alexander, Marcus “KRAM” Wallace, Rodney “RAD1″ Wills and Dexter “DEQUE” Gilmore — the United Kings are credited with being one of the pioneering groups in Atlanta’s hip-hop history. Many believe they are the first hip-hop collective to emerge in the city.
Though they’re most known for being style writers (also called graffiti artists) and forefathers of the city’s public arts community, the United Kings also made a name for themselves in music and breakdancing. From the early to mid-1980s, their run of large-scale pieces popping up on billboards, highways and MARTA stations put the city’s graffiti talent on the map.
Credit: Rodney "Rad1" Wills
Credit: Rodney "Rad1" Wills
“The United Kings are Atlanta’s introduction to the urban youth culture we know today as hip-hop,” said Antar Fierce, exhibition curator and graffiti historian. “They are the earliest adopters; they are the earliest practitioners, and they have receipts.”
In the late ‘80s, the group seemingly vanished. In reality, the young teenagers grew up and had to navigate adulthood, but they never stopped creating. The entire crew reunited 37 years later at the 2023 ATL Jam, an event produced by Art on the Atlanta Beltline, which features style writers from Atlanta and other cities doing original works at different locations along the Beltline.
“Kings Arrive” is being put together by the Fulton County Arts & Culture, the Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs, Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta and the Georgia Council for the Arts. An opening reception and artist talk will take place from 2 to 6 p.m. on Sunday. The exhibition has a tentative closing date of Dec. 8.
Credit: Jason Getz
Credit: Jason Getz
In February, Fierce, along with local filmmaker Will Feagins, released a short documentary about graffiti titled “City of Kings,” which chronicles Atlanta’s public arts origins. Fierce and Feagins left the United Kings out of the film with the intention to do something fully dedicated to them. Fierce’s hope is that audiences will appreciate the crew’s legacy.
“In a time where erasing history is on the agenda for some, it makes the United Kings’ story that much more important,” he said.
EXHIBIT PREVIEW
Opening Sunday. Free. Eyedrum Art and Music Gallery, 515 Ralph David Abernathy Blvd. SW, Atlanta. Eyedrum.org.
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