Lady Pink is an artist whose name has become synonymous with the early days of the New York graffiti scene. Starting out in 1979 she would go on to make a name for herself writing and painting trains. A rare female artist in an often difficult and dangerous environment dominated by men.
London Exhibition
Now seated in front of a life-sized replica of a New York Subway train we are in London. The D’Stassi gallery playing host to the very first solo exhibition by the artist in the city. Called ‘Miss Subway’ it is a homage to those early years. A time that, looking back, has gained a kind of misty eyed nostalgia.
Subway Art
Around the walls the artwork aims to take viewers back to that time. The Subway Car replica sits adorned with graffiti, you can even explore inside. Visitors to the exhibition adding to the authenticity by adding tags to the windows and walls. Canvases pay tribute to the artistic landscape and tiled subway walls of the period. Whilst a self portrait remembers an iconic photo in Subway Art.
Interview with Lady Pink
An Interview with Lady Pink at her ‘Miss Subway 2025’ exhibition. Cover photo of Lady Pink by Eric T White
Miss Subway
The name of the show ‘Miss Subway‘ is taken from an earlier era. Actually a playful nod to the historic subway beauty pageants that ran from the 1940s to 1970s. Not the kind of thing you associate with New York subways but it happened nonetheless. Crowning herself Miss Subway New York 2025 she has self-assigned the crown. An act of reclamation and reinvention.
1970’s New York
Growing up in late 1970’s New York, it was a city on the brink of collapse. Federal funding had dried up, crime was rampant and entire neighbourhoods were crumbling. President Gerald Ford’s infamous 1975 response to New York’s financial crisis saw a deepening decline. Essentially said Lady Pink “the President literally told the city they can go fuck themselves”. It would become the catalyst for an unexpected cultural revolution.
“Out of these ashes was born graffiti,” Pink explained. “Young people, many barely teenagers, were creating an entirely new art form in the most challenging urban landscape imaginable.”
Primary Canvas
The subway system became the primary canvas. Between 1970 and 1980, graffiti transformed from simple tagging to complex, multi-coloured “pieces” that turned train cars into mobile galleries.
Early Female Artists
Pink’s success at a time which saw increased exposure has often seen her referred to as the first female writer. It’s a claim she quickly puts down. “There were dozens and dozens of women through the 1970s that tagged up and got up”. Referencing early women on the scene such as Barbara 62, Eve 62 and Rocky 184.
“I came around when they had all finished. There were no more left, and the movement was started to go above ground, but I didn’t know that. So I was the only female there”.
Established Sub-Culture
In reality, by the time Pink arrived, the scene had evolved into a sophisticated and fiercely competitive subculture. “There was already a protocol, a hierarchy, ethics. We had celebrities, heroes, and villains”.
The unwritten rules were intricate. Aspiring writers started with tags, moved on to “throw-ups,” and finally graduated to full-colour “pieces.” She describes the graffiti crews as operating like guilds. Invitation-only clubs where membership meant recognition and respect.
Navigating the Streets
For Pink, entering this world as a teenage girl meant navigating danger and demanding respect. She dressed like a boy, carried a knife for protection, and proved herself through sheer skill and audacity. “I had to hold my own,” she said. “I was fully aware that if something went wrong, I was on my own.”
Cultural Icons
Two cultural artefacts would become pivotal in propelling graffiti from underground movement to global phenomenon. In particular they were key in Lady Pink’s own career. The film Wild Style and the book Subway Art. For many they formed a catalyst which helped to move graffiti from local phenomenon to global movement. A real cultural Tipping Point.
Wild Style
Directed by Charlie Ahearn in 1982, Wild Style, was a super low budget but seminal film. It is credited as having captured the spirit of hip-hop and graffiti culture. Becoming one of the only windows into this self contained but highly unique New York based world. Lady Pink had a major role alongside fellow writer Lee Quinones and a host of other sub-cultural icons. She remembers the production with a wry smile. “It was so low budget, none of us really cared what was going on” she said.
The script, she recalled, was mostly rewritten by the artists themselves. Ahearn did have a dialogue written out. “But he’s a, you know, proper white guy that doesn’t know how to write slang or street talk”. Going on to explain how the cast would re-write the dialogue to the way they wanted it. It allowed for more unscripted authentic performances, capturing the rawness of the era.
Wild Style: The Movie
Wild style: The Movie
Subway Art
Then came Subway Art, the 1984 book by Henry Chalfant and Martha Cooper. It documented the graffiti movement with unprecedented intimacy. For many around the world, it became a sacred text. “It’s the most stolen book in history,” said Lady Pink. A testament to its status as both icon and outlaw. One particularly iconic image shows the young artist sitting on a heavily tagged train. It’s one she’s re-created in the exhibition.
Role Model
Pink describes the impact even now of being depicted in that book. “It’s put me in the role of being a role model” she says. “Of being an inspiration to others… that has kind of dictated my life in a sense. I do know that young people are looking up to me”. It meant that despite having a background in illegal work, she’d go onto move beyond. “That was my education” she says of those days writing graffiti on the streets of New York. “It built character. It built confidence in all my later work for the rest of my life”.
Fine Artist
Lady Pink recognises that “the vandalism” and the “defying of authority” was a part of who she is now. “But you know, you have to grow up and to be a full fledged artist at some point… you have to join the grown up world and be a bit responsible and put your priorities in order”.
That ambition led Pink to the fine art market in the early 80’s. Galleries, noticed the trend on the streets. They wanted to work with graffiti artists and what we’d now know as street artists. At that point, despite artists selling work, many dismissed it as a fleeting trend.
“Everyone told us fine art was fickle,” she recalled. “They said we might just be a passing fad and we’d have to find ‘real jobs’”.
Global Movement
Instead, they laid the foundations of a global movement. Starting as a survival instinct in the decaying boroughs of New York. It would become a visual language adopted in cities across the world. Living through it at the time, there would have been no concept of what the movement would become. After all says Pink “kids from the hood, 13, 14, 15 years old were inventing graffiti in New York City”.
Lady Pink was one of those kids. Having to navigate her own unique path through the city and towards her own style. You’d have needed an impressive crystal ball to really see into what the future would become.
Lady Pink was interviewed at the D’Stassi Gallery at 12-18 Hoxton Street on 16 July 2025. Miss Subway opened to the public on 18 July 2025 and runs until late September 2025.
For more Inspiring City articles you will like, take a look at…
- How Wild Style Helped to Spark a Global Graffiti Revolution
- The Graffiti Bible: How Subway Art Shaped a Generation
- Tipping Point: Graffiti from Subculture to Global Phenomenon
- Lee Quinones ‘ Outside is America’ exhibition in London
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