“Hip-Hop Started Out In The Park” – Wes Jackson
Hip-Hop exists in many forms but its presence as a physical space has rarely been studied.
The subject of my exhibition will be to document the South Bronx in the late 1970’s as the physical birthplace of Hip-Hop.
The center of the exhibit will be the photographs of Joe Conzo. As one of the few photographers documenting the proto days of Hip-Hp, his collection is unprecedented.
Through photos, audio and video we will examine the physical nature of the South Bronx. Starting with the creation of the Cross Bronx Expressway by Robert Moses in 1963 (the destruction of New York tenements and the creation NYC Housing Projects) to the blackout of 1977 and ending in the mid 1980’s I will show how the economic neglect of the South Bronx created a fertile environment for the creation of Hip-Hop culture.