EAST VILLAGE EYE

The Bowery experienced a renaissance throughout the 1980s, a time when New York’s creative scene really began to flourish. Sprawling out of CBGB’s a city would be changed forever by the creative will of a few, that would impact on popular culture the world over.

The Bowery experienced a renaissance throughout the 1980s, a time when New York’s creative scene really began to flourish. Sprawling out of CBGB’s a city would be changed forever by the creative will of a few, that would impact on popular culture the world over.

New York in the hearts and minds of many, is defined by this image of relentless creativity, power, drive, DIY and soundtracked by a raucous medley of Punk, Disco and Hip Hop.
The East Village is essential, as a destination for those trying to become something, an unparalleled energy would emerge that many would gravitate to and spring from. Much like the East Village Other, which would chronicle the area’s glory days of the 1960s, the East Village Eye would be a defining artefact of the times. The first issue was distributed in 1979, a few years after the launch of PONY and right as the touch paper was lit for a cultural epoch which would engulf the city.

Focusing on a mixture of off-the-cuff street reporting, avant-garde art reviews, club and bar recommendations, advertisements for thrift stores and vintage finds, the East Village Eye was the chronicler of the times. Bringing together all the varying nooks and crannies, amounting to a creative output that lies east of Greenwich Village, south of Gramercy and Stuyvesant Town and north of the Lower East Side.

Alphabet City and the Bowery were the main arteries of the area, with CBGBs being the pinnacle of club cool, playing host to and launching the New York Dolls, Blondie and many other acts throughout the years. Not only did music play a huge part in the cultural movement and soundtrack the hub for avant-garde creativity. A number of galleries would emerge from the rubble of the punk rock scene – most notably the Fun Gallery. Founded by Patti Astor and Bill Stelling, the gallery features the works of so many influential artists that were essential to the culture. From Jean Michelle Basquiat, Keith Haring, Dondi, Futura 2000 and Fab 5 Freddy, some of the greatest post-modern artists would be showcased in the space. Patti Astor would also play the roving reporter in Charles Ahearn’s legendary Hip Hop movie ‘Wild Style’ which would feature much of the symbols and capture the essence of the time greatly.

Our love of this era is two-fold, not only did we ourselves spring from this time on to the world stage but our very own Ricky Powell would also be on hand to capture the faces, energy and style. From photos of a young Cindy Crawford to Basquiat and Warhol, Powell would be there, the young-buck on the scene capturing it in all its glory. Counting the key players as friends, The Rickster was right amongst it all, thriving on the energy of a city truly like no other.

A zine and underground chronicle would take the style of the streets, the energy of the city and be the go-to guide to the East Village. The East Village Eye would prove formative for Ricky Powell, giving the young creative his first commission. From its first issue in 1979, it would go on to amass over 70 issues until 1987. Hip and cynical, the prose and the pictures were an amalgamation of resistance, left-field creativity at its heart, the paper would characterize the East Village’s flourishing gallery scenes, music and creatives who would largely change the way the world engaged with art, music and fashion.