Wednesday, May 7, 2025

Ki Smith Gallery revisits hip-hop’s 'Golden' era through rare photographs

Photos and text by Stacie Joy 

In case you haven't had a chance to check it out yet ... Ki Smith Gallery's latest exhibition, "Golden," offers a candid look at 1990s hip-hop culture through the lens of four photographers — Danny Hastings, T. Eric Monroe, Erik Elijah Brumfield, and Koi Sojer. 

Per the press notes: "...this exhibition reveals hip-hop at its most unfiltered, untamed, and unforgettable. Before the internet. Before the algorithms. When the lens was the only witness." 

I've long admired Koi Sojer's work, and seeing it here, up close, only deepened that respect. Self-taught and sharp-eyed, she captures moments that feel at once specific and iconic.
Also featured is Erik Elijah Brumfield, whose work I wasn't as familiar with. The visuals are striking: young subjects, off-stage or off-guard, rendered with a mix of vulnerability and edge.
Featured performers on the walls include luminaries such as Run-DMC, Wu-Tang Clan, Erykah Badu, Tupac, Salt-N-Pepa, and LL Cool J, among many others.
And thanks to owner-founder Ki Smith (below) for a recent look after the gallery had closed for the day...
"Golden" is on view through May 25. The gallery, 170 Forsyth St. between Stanton and Rivington on the Lower East Side, is open Wednesday through Sunday, noon to 6 p.m.
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