Graffiti Photographer Profile
From 1971 to 1974 subway graffiti was in its most revolutionary phase. All the major innovations occurred during this time period. Names evolved from simple signatures into elaborate multicolored reinterpretations of the standard alphabet adorned with illustrations and a wide variety of graphic elements.
The dramatic change in the appearance of New York's subway system gained the attention of the entire city and the world, yet Stewart was possibly the only photographer methodically observing and documenting the phenomenon. He captured a great deal the most important stages of the evolution of graffiti art. His documentation is the most comprehensive collection of photographs of the time period in the world. Stewart continued to photograph subways until the late 1970s.
He was a widely acknowledged authority on graffiti history. He conducted one of the most in-depth studies of graffiti in the world. Studying graffiti art within the context of the world history of graffiti dating back to prehistoric times.
Stewart has published many articles on art and also wrote the definitive work Subway Graffiti, U.M.I., Ann Arbor MI, 1989, and Mass Transit Art, published by the Groninger Museum, Holland. In 2009 Subway Graffiti was adapted for commercial publication and titled Graffiti Kings: New York City Mass Transit Art of the 1970s.
Stewart was also an accomplished educator. Stewart acquired a BFA degree at Yale University where he studied with Josef Albers and Willem deKooning. He also studied architecture at Columbia University and earned MA and Ph.D. degrees in art at New York University. Stewart taught at prestigious institutions such as Cooper Union, New York University, and Columbia Graduate School of Art. He had been chairman of the art departments of Cooper Union and Indiana State University, and Provost and Vice President of the Rhode Island School of Design. Stewart passed away on March 4, 2005.
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