Untitled, October 19, 1981

December 1980

Begins drawing in chalk on black advertising panels in the subway

From December 1980 he made white-chalk drawings on black, unused advertising panels in New York City subway stations. He called the subway his “laboratory”; the Radiant Baby became his tag, and his vocabulary grew to include barking dogs, flying saucers and dancing figures.

February 1981

First solo exhibition at Westbeth Painters Space

His first solo exhibition took place at Westbeth Painters Space in the West Village in February 1981. That month he also took part in the New York/New Wave show at MoMA PS1.

November 1981

First solo show at a commercial gallery

In November 1981 the Hal Bromm Gallery in Tribeca presented his first solo exhibition at a commercial gallery.

1982

Takes part in documenta 7 in Kassel

In 1982 his work was shown at documenta 7 in Kassel alongside that of Joseph Beuys, Anselm Kiefer, Gerhard Richter, Cy Twombly, Jean-Michel Basquiat and Andy Warhol.

October 1982

The breakthrough exhibition at the Tony Shafrazi Gallery

In October 1982 he held a solo exhibition at the Tony Shafrazi Gallery in SoHo, which drew positive reviews; a CBS Evening News report noted that more than a quarter of a million dollars’ worth of work sold within the first days. Shafrazi represented him until his death.

1983

Shows of 1983: the Fun Gallery, the Whitney Biennial, São Paulo

In February 1983 he held a solo exhibition at the Fun Gallery in the East Village; that year he also had solo shows at Galerie Watari in Tokyo, the Institute of Contemporary Art in Philadelphia, the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford and, for the second time, the Tony Shafrazi Gallery, and his work was shown at the Whitney Biennial in New York and the São Paulo Biennial.