1985
New York City
Art schools such as SVA, Parsons, and FIT housed thousands of students in this 15-story gulag on 34th street in Hell's Kitchen. The rooms were the size of prison cells, but to experience NYC in the '80s was mesmerizing. Throw endless booze, mix-tapes, drugs, and cockroaches into the mix and things got pretty colorful. It was a massive hell-hole of creativity and madness.
I stayed for three years.
Below is a collection of Sloane-themed content: Comics, Graphics, Posters, Apparel, Social Media, Books, and Events produced over the past decade. This ongoing project occupies the black & white space between post-mortem branding and nostalgic tribute.
Neon signage on the front of building
Sloane location in mid-town Manhattan
Sloane from above
"CRACK IS WHACK... JACK!" — Mustafa, owner of Toumanidis Deli, just across the street from Sloane
9th Avenue Pigeon on a Cigarette break.
Sloane apparel series - modeled by a few Sloane survivors
Times Square Santa....
Sloane subway poster series
"SLOANE HOUSE 1986" - WELCOME TO HELL TOWN"
COVER JACKET (above) AND SLOANE HOUSE COMICS PANELS (below).
[ Character head design courtesy of Puzl ]
[ Character head design courtesy of Puzl ]
Sloane Rangers at CBGB's band flyer
NYC subway car circa 1985
Typical Sloane room - before student customization.
Sloane hallways
"DINER" at corner of 33rd & 9th - view from Sloane
Unnamed New Yorker, sweaty and pissed-off.
“Living in Sloane was nothing short of masochistic and it even made the Port Authority seem quaint. The rooms were the size of prison cels and at times it felt like we were the test-subjects of a sick government-controlled ant farm. Hell, it was the ‘80s in NYC so who really knows."
— K.BANKS