Bruce Presents: Graffiti talk and discussion with COCO 144
Sunday, July 20, 2025, 2–4pm, Gale and Robert H. Lawrence, Jr., and Pamela and Robert Goergen Auditorium
Join us for an extraordinary historical journey into the origins of New York City's legendary graffiti movement with two pioneering masters who helped shape street art as we know it today.
This exclusive talk and discussion features intimate conversation with COCO 144 and Moses Ros (SAL-161), two authentic voices from the early 1970s subway graffiti scene. Experience firsthand accounts of the underground movement that transformed urban art and influenced global culture for decades to come.
Support for Bruce Presents is generously provided byBerkley One, a Berkley Company.
Featured Artists
COCO 144 (Roberto Gualtieri) Born in 1956 to Puerto Rican and Italian heritage, COCO 144 began writing his name on New York's streets and subways in 1969 at just 14 years old, making him a true pioneer of the graffiti movement. Growing up in Harlem on 144th Street during the turbulent 1960s and 70s, COCO identified with the new visual language emerging across the city and became one of its most influential propagators.
His groundbreaking contributions include introducing stencil techniques to subway writing, earning him recognition as "all city" from 1970-1972 – meaning his tag appeared everywhere across NYC's five boroughs. COCO's transition from underground to mainstream began in 1973 when he joined United Graffiti Artists (UGA), bringing subway art into downtown Manhattan galleries. His historic exhibition at Razor Gallery that September shifted public perception of graffiti forever.
Over five decades, COCO's work has been featured in prestigious venues including the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, the Cartier Foundation in Paris, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, and most recently in "Wall Writers" and "Beyond the Streets" exhibitions. He continues creating technical and abstract variations of his iconic name in his New York City studio.
Moses Ros (SAL-161) A multidisciplinary artist working as sculptor, painter, and printmaker, Moses Ros brings deep influences from both New York City street culture and his Caribbean heritage. He entered the subway graffiti movement in the early 1970s under the tag SAL-161, becoming an integral part of the underground scene.
Moses participated in the Nation of Graffiti Artists (NOGA), a neighborhood organization that pioneered the transition of graffiti artists from subway walls to legitimate canvas work. Through NOGA, he achieved his first major art sale – a monumental seven-foot by five-foot spray-painted SAL-161 masterpiece that marked the beginning of graffiti's acceptance in traditional art markets.
