A-One (Anthony Clark)
A-One (Anthony Clark, 1964 - 2001) était un graffeur américain pionnier dont l'œuvre a contribué à jeter un pont entre le graffiti du métro new-yorkais et le monde de l'art contemporain. Né à Manhattan et ayant grandi dans le South Bronx, il a commencé à peindre des rames de métro au milieu des années 1970 et s'est rapidement imposé comme l'une des figures les plus innovantes de la première génération de graffeurs de la ville.
A founding member of Rammellzee's influential Tag Master Killers crew, alongside artists such as Kool Koor, Toxic, and Delta2, A-One developed what he described as "aerosol expressionism", a distinctive visual language combining gestural abstraction, calligraphic forms, and the raw energy of graffiti. During the early 1980s, A-One exhibited at the groundbreaking Fashion Moda gallery in the Bronx and became one of the first graffiti artists to gain recognition in galleries and museums. A close friend and collaborator of Jean-Michel Basquiat, he appears in Basquiat's celebrated painting Portrait of A-One A.K.A. King (1982). In 1984, A-One was among the youngest artists invited to exhibit at the Venice Biennale, marking a significant milestone in the international recognition of graffiti as a contemporary art form. From the mid-1980s onward, A-One lived and worked primarily in Europe, especially in Italy and France, where he continued to develop his practice until his death in Paris in 2001 at the age of 37. Today, his work is regarded as a landmark in the history of graffiti, recognized for its unique fusion of street culture, abstract expressionism, and contemporary painting.