The 1983 documentary "Style Wars" is often cited as an inspiration for contemporary artists, filmmakers and people who consider themselves—or, in fairness, we consider—coolhunters.
Made in New York by Henry Chalfant and the late Tony Silver, it chronicles the lives of street artists who traffic in graffiti, break dancing and rapping. People with names like Demon and Spank and Quik and Iz the Wiz and Trap and Daze and Crash and Shy 147. People who sound like they would pretty much liven up any party.
On Wednesday at Tiny's & the Bar Upstairs, a relatively new venue in TriBeCa co-owned by the hockey player Sean Avery, The Common Good held a fund-raiser for the restoration of the damaged negative of "Style Wars." (It was damaged through years of storage.) The Common Good, founded by Patricia Duff, is a nonprofit devoted to motivating and inspiring Americans to "become more involved in civic affairs and the political process."
"This is the coolest group of people ever," said the actress Catherine Keener of the crowd, which included such folks as the designer/actress Mary-Kate Olsen (who said she's looking forward to a two-week vacation, her first in ages, next month); Mr. Chalfant and his wife, the stage actress Kathleen of "Wit" (who was wearing a pin that read "Well behaved women seldom make history); the fashion designer Charlotte Ronson; the breakdancer Mr. Freeze of the Rock Steady Crew; the graffiti artist Eric Haze; the Brooklyn-based subway artist Lee Quinones; Jerry Ferrara, a.k.a. the Brooklyn-born actor who plays Turtle on "Entourage" and the filmmaker Spike Jonze who directed Ms. Keener in several films.
- Marshall Heyman of The Wall Street Journal, READ MORE
