The Art of Steel

CRASH, born John Matos, began spray painting at age thirteen after the example of some older neighborhood kids he followed to the train yards. After accidentally crashing a computer at school, Matos took the moniker CRASH for himself and entered the world of graffiti and street art in earnest. He painted his first train in 1975 and soon his iconic tag could be seen on trains careening through tunnels and above streets throughout New York City. At only nineteen, CRASH curated his first exhibition for Fashion Moda, a South Bronx artist-run art space known for its alternative community and progressive presentation. The legendary exhibition, Graffiti Art Success for America, was the gallery’s first ever graffiti exhibition, and significantly marked the artist’s transition from trains to galleries. CRASH was one of the first graffiti artists to embrace the canvas, and in 1983 the Sidney Janis Gallery gave him his first solo gallery show. With a career spanning decades, CRASH continues to exhibit widely and is collected by premier institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Brooklyn Museum of Art, Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, and more. Now the co-owner of a gallery in the Bronx, CRASH remains a prominent voice in both the graffiti arts scene and his beloved neighborhood, the Bronx.