DC’s ‘Mayor for life’, Marion Barry, said “everybody knows COOL “DISCO” DAN” – do you?
Only a handful of his tags still remain, but during the 80’s you couldn’t turn a corner from Tenleytown to Congress Heights without seeing his graffiti. “The Legend of Cool “Disco” Dan” highlights Dan and the lawless DC era from which he emerged. It premiered to sold out crowds amid the lambast of cool that was last winter’s Pump Me Up exhibition at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, but has returned to the DMV area this weekend for all those who couldn’t get a seat.
The film sheds light on the 1980s and 1990s in Washington at the intersection of politics and crime, but also the part that not many know about: about the gritty underbelly of the city that birthed Go-Go and its attendant style of graffiti.
The film’s central character was the elusive graffiti artist known as COOL “DISCO” DAN, whose tag became a symbol of the era and a voice for a voiceless community. A 1991 Washington Post feature about “the urban phantom” solidified his status as a D.C. legend.
The film reel rolls from October 18-20st, at AFI Silver Theater in Silver Spring to celebrate the release of the DVD. BONUS: The legend himself will make a special appearance and signing DVD’s at the 5:15pm screenings from Friday through Sunday. Tickets for the screenings at available at:
http://www.afi.com/silver/films/events.aspx#legen.
AND if you can’t make the screening, rent the movie online at http://cooldiscodan.com