New art book celebrates 1980s graffiti in Wolverhampton

Old So Kool by artist by Paul Pilgrim and Steve O'Hara Pilgrim and publisher Steve O'Hara is a showcase the efforts of well known and lesser known talents who left their mark in the city centre as part of the emerging UK graffiti scene in the 1980s.

Now the street artists have been celebrated in the 350-page hardback which is is designed to take readers back to a time when when legendary painters, including the Wolverhampton actor and deejay Goldie, sprayed rattle cans in the shadows.

Preparations are also underway for a follow-up book due to its popularity.

Recently around 15 artists met up to reminisce and legally place their creations on the walls of the Peel Street underpass to evoke memories of the past.

Mr Pilgrim, now 52, says: "The book is doing really well. It has made it to the Saatchi Gallery bookshop which which is brilliant as it's quite exclusive.

"We initially planned to a limited print run of 1,500 and did 1,100 test it out. There's only a few left and we're getting ready to print the final 400 copies."

Mr Pilgrim, who lives in Brownhills, started painting graffiti in 1985 as the craze was spreading to the region and set up the 80s Old Skool Graffiti Facebook group to connect artists who then contributed photographs from their collections to the book.

"It's gone beyond our wildest dreams. There's so many unsung artists out there and there's so much good work that I've got enough that I could produce another book.

"I couldn't have imagined it going the way that it has. It's been well received both by the artists and everyone else. We're in the process of doing a follow-up book. The publisher is very happy with the project's gone.

"The idea was based on the fact that in the 1980s a large number of people across the country were were doing these paintings and now most of them are in their 50s. This is a lost generation of artists," he adds.

Old So Kool: 80s UK Graffiti costs £40 and is available from Amazon ans London's Saatchi Gallery.