Art Review Her photographs showcase an intensely physical side of the city: breaking down boxes to dance upon, spray-painting subway cars.

May 29, 2026 — 4 min read

Martha Cooper, "Sean after painting Happy Holidays car with Jason, Esplanade lay up Bronx" (1982) (all photos Imani Williford/ Hyperallergic )

What are the bodily characteristics that make a city? That is what I was thinking about while walking through the Bronx Documentary Center's exhibition Martha Cooper: Streetwise . Martha Cooper is perhaps best known for documenting New York City’s graffiti and breaking culture in the early 1980s, though this exhibition offers a survey of her career from the late 1970s through 2010s in New York, Baltimore, Tokyo, and the South African Township of Soweto.…