Gallery 98 has recently been able to re-stock some of the rarest and most sought-after issues of the East Village Eye, an independent, D.I.Y. newspaper founded in 1979 by Leonard Abrams (1954 – 2023). During the 1980s, a decade when the East Village was at the heart of cultural changes that were embraced worldwide, the Eye covered it all – music, art, fashion and politics. There was a total of 72 issues before it ceased regular publication in 1987. Time has confirmed its importance — in 2022 the Eye archives were purchased by the New York Public Library.
The ten issues that Gallery 98 has recently acquired were each carefully selected. They spotlight the scene’s leaders: James White of the Contortions, David Byrne, the Beastie Boys, Futura 2000, Lee Quinones, Keith Haring and Richard Hambleton. Of special importance is the January 1982 issue containing Michael Holman’s interview with Afrika Bambaataa, which some claim was the first print appearance of the term “hip hop.” All the issues brim with advertisements capturing the spirit of the 1980s.
You can learn more about the Eye and find other available issues on our special East Village Eye, 1979-1987 page.
East Village Eye, Issue Number 1, James White (cover), May 1979
Available for Purchase
Issue No. 1 captures the rise of “No Wave” with articles about musician James White, and on the new D.I.Y. cinema featuring super-8 films that were just emerging in the East Village.
East Village Eye, John Holmstrom’s “Death of Punk” (cover), also with Chris Burden and Slugger Ann, June 1980
Available for Purchase
How quickly things changed! John Holmstrom, who helped launch the downtown scene when he began publishing Punk magazine in 1976, humorously laments the scene’s transformation into “Super-Hip New Wave.”
East Village Eye, Picasso Sucks (cover), cover collage by Jon-Paul Pellicoro, September 1980
Available for Purchase
The “Picasso Sucks” cover remains one of the Eye’s most popular.
East Village Eye, Lee Quinones (cover), unidentified centerfold, December 1980
Available for Purchase
Lisa Kahane’s cover photo of a graffiti mural by Lee Quinones in a New Museum exhibition about the Fashion Moda art space in the South Bronx, heralds the arrival of “hip hop” downtown.
East Village Eye, Chilly Xmas, includes the first mention in print of the term “hip-hop,” Fab 5 Freddy, Wild Style, Break Dancing, centerfold by Futura 2000, January 1982
Available for Purchase
“Chilly Xmas” is now the most avidly collected issue of the Eye. In addition to Michael Holman’s interview with Afrika Bambaataa that is said to contain the first printed mention of the term ‘hip hop,” this issue also contains a centerfold by Futura 2000, and a photo feature on breakdancing.
East Village Eye, David Byrne (cover), photograph by Marcia Resnick, with Bob Marley interview, April 1982
Available for Purchase
There is a lot about music in this issue, which features interviews with David Byrne, Bob Marley and Coati Mundi, whose Latin-infused hybrid sound was a Mudd Club favorite.
East Village Eye, interviews with Keith Haring and Rammellzee, October 1982
Available for Purchase
The cover spotlights downtown fashion, but the real importance of this issue are the early interviews with Keith Haring and Rammelzee.
East Village Eye, Patti Astor, with “Iconoklast Panzerism” at Fashion Moda, February 1983
Available for Purchase
Steve Hager writes about how underground film star Patti Astor’s role in Charlie Ahearn’s film Wild Style led her to co-found the Fun Gallery, the first East Village art gallery, which became an important early showcase for graffiti-based artists.
East Village Eye, New Art in East Village with Richard Hambleton (cover); murder of Michael Stewart and Tony Shafrazi vandalises Picasso’s Guernica, October 1983
Available for Purchase
By the mid-1980s the East Village art scene was as vital as its music scene. Richard Hambleton’s cover is an inspired parody of Richard Prince’s “Marlboro Man” series. Spencer Rumsey writes about the death of graffiti artist Michael Stewart; and Marc H Miller resurrects the forgotten story of how Tony Shafrazi vandalized Picasso’s “Guernica” in the name of art.
East Village Eye, The Beastie Boys (cover), photograph by Ricky Powell, with Iggy Pop, Nam June Paik, Ruth Kligman, December 1986
Available for Purchase
The cover celebrates punk rappers, the Beastie Boys, and their successful album “Licensed to ill.”
