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CUBA
Booty Call
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Anna Hellsgård, Christian Gfeller, CUBA, Ganzeer, Kevin Caplicki, Marshall Weber, Mike Taylor, New York Year Zero, Sophia Kramer
Blam Blam Blam Blam Blam
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CUBA
Hard Work
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CUBA, Dana F. Smith, Marshall Weber
Coins Only
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CUBA
Colonial Regime, We Know Them Scheme
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CUBA
Eddie’s Smoke Shop
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CUBA, Marshall Weber
New Coronation
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CUBA, Marshall Weber, Mary Wagner
Slaughter of the Trees
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CUBA
Imagine
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Booklyn Inc.
The Booklyn Bridge #5
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Booklyn Inc.
The Booklyn Bridge #6
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Booklyn Inc.
The Booklyn Bridge #4
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Booklyn Inc.
The Booklyn Bridge #3
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Booklyn Inc.
The Booklyn Bridge #2
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Booklyn Inc.
The Booklyn Bridge #1
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CUBA
AUTO BIO GRAPHY #THREE
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CUBA
AUTO BIO GRAPHY #TWO
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CUBA
AUTO BIO GRAPHY #ONE
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CUBA
even tho’
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CUBA
Information is Power, Vol. 5
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Anna Hellsgård, Christian Gfeller, CUBA, Ganzeer, Kevin Caplicki, Marshall Weber, New York Year Zero
Blam Blam: The Past is Cold
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CUBA
Salsa
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CUBA, David Sandlin, Ganzeer, Marshall Weber
Superstition Freeway
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CUBA
Information is Power, Volume 4
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CUBA
Information is Power, Volume 3
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CUBA
Information is Power, Volume 2
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CUBA
Information is Power, Volume 1
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CUBA
Utopia
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Crystal Valentine, CUBA, Marshall Weber
On Evaluating Black Privilege
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CUBA, Fred Rinne, Marshall Weber
NO XMAS FOR AMERIKA
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CUBA, Dana F. Smith
Metal Teeth
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CUBA
We Hunger, We Suffer & We Thirsty
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CUBA
I Want No Illusions About My Place in the World
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CUBA, Marshall Weber
Buddy’s Story
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CUBA
Pick Yourself Up from Off the Ground
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CUBA, Marshall Weber
Slaughter of the Trees (large format)
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CUBA, Marshall Weber
Radiant Gods
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CUBA, Scott Williams
Graffiti Saved My Life
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CUBA
Beauty Bar
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CUBA, Scott Williams
Free Pussy Riot
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CUBA
We’ll Bust Your Ass
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CUBA, Marshall Weber, Sophia Kramer
Stay Focused
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CUBA
Continuum
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CUBA
Iridescent Cuba
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CUBA
Read Between The Lines
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CUBA
The Worst is Yet to Come
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CUBA
Play With Our Minds
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Clarence Robbs (1964-2021), better known as CUBA, is the primary founder of the lettering ‘Wild-style’ graffiti movement that rose in popularity in the San Francisco Bay Area in the 1980s and ’90s. Primarily tagging and painting murals with the name CUBA (or, KUBA), he has also tagged and painted under the aliases Imagine, Salsa, Work, and Utopia.

In the early 1980s, he left Baltimore and brought his high-color, high-density, layered writing style to the Bay Area, where he has painted over 600 murals. Upon arrival in San Francisco, CUBA became a founding member of the acclaimed Clarion Alley Mural Project (Clarion). Clarion created and continues to create works of art on the face of Clarion Alley, rendering an alley with a long tradition of arts and community action (historically it has been a site of labor organization and artist Happenings) into an always-evolving gallery. Due to his ubiquitous presence on the streets of San Francisco, CUBA is seen as one of the godfathers of the last coherent school of this American art of the 20th Century, the Mission School scene.

CUBA’s street presence made an impression on street writers and artists such as Barry “Twist” McGee, Chris Johanson, Rigo23, Aaron Noble, Julie Murray, among others.

CUBA’s interest in the book form stands out as innovative and unique among graffiti artists. He is one of the few artists of his kind who has used the unique Wild-style lettering forms as fonts for his own narrative texts as well as other poets' writing. He goes well beyond most graffiti writers’ use of sketchbooks as he has explored graffiti typography as a means of conveying complicated scenarios of urban culture.

CUBA has become a pioneer in the world of Artists’ Books as a Native American/Caribbean/African American artist. This breaks the Euro-centric predominance in the Artists’ Books world.

CUBA is an innovator in the exploration of typography and letterform. His work stretches the limits of convention and introduces new aesthetics to the field of fine press typography and book design with a force reminiscent of early futurist and Dadaist typographical interventions.

CUBA’s work is imbued with the underground street culture and radical politics. CUBA’s particularly positive outlook has redefined graffiti in San Francisco as a part of urban development and neighborhood conservation as much as a record of it. The community in San Francisco celebrates graffiti, and CUBA is a large part of that celebration. His work is collected internationally by librarians and museum curators and private collectors.

CUBA’s unique (edition of 1) hand-painted books give his audience an exuberant reading of social commentary and hundreds of new letterforms. By collaborating on artists’ books with stencil and cut-paper godfather Scott Williams and artist/poet Marshall Weber, CUBA’s books have reached new audiences through distribution by Booklyn Artists’ Alliance. His archive is extremely diverse, being filled with original drawings, sketchbooks, small paintings, and photographs. This collection documents one of the most productive artists and teachers on the graffiti scene.

CUBA’s unflagging optimism and positive attitude and his universally acknowledged courage, integrity, and generosity have made CUBA one of the best-respected graffiti writers across three generations.

In Collection:

Bayerische Staatsbibliothek

I Want No Illusions About My Place in the World

Bibliothèque Nationale de Luxembourg

Bucknell University

The Booklyn Bridge #3

Cornell University

Coins OnlyBuddy’s StoryWe’ll Bust Your AssStay Focused

Deutsche Nationalbibliothek

The Booklyn Bridge #4

Emory University

The Worst is Yet to Come

Harvard University, Fine Arts Library

The Booklyn Bridge #2

Letterform Archive

Slaughter of the Trees

Library of Congress (LoC)

Multnomah County Public Library

Iridescent Cuba

Northwestern University

Information is Power, Volume 4

School of the Museum of Fine Arts (SMFA) at Tufts

Blam Blam: The Past is Cold

Skidmore College

Smith College, Mortimer Rare Book Room

Free Pussy Riot

Swarthmore College

We Hunger, We Suffer & We Thirsty

Temple University

New Coronation

The New York Public Library (NYPL)

Play With Our Minds

The University of Iowa (UI)

Pick Yourself Up from Off the Ground

The University of New Mexico (UNM)

The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA)

Information is Power, Vol. 5

University of Arizona Library

NO XMAS FOR AMERIKA

University of California, Berkeley (UCB), The Bancroft Library

The Booklyn Bridge #5Metal Teeth

University of California, Irvine (UCI)

Hard WorkBlam Blam: The Past is Cold

University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB)

Blam Blam Blam Blam BlamEddie’s Smoke ShopInformation is Power, Volume 3Information is Power, Volume 1

University of Colorado at Boulder

On Evaluating Black Privilege

University of Connecticut (UCONN)

The Booklyn Bridge #1Information is Power, Volume 2

University of Delaware Library

AUTO BIO GRAPHY #THREEAUTO BIO GRAPHY #TWOAUTO BIO GRAPHY #ONESuperstition Freeway

University of Kansas, Spencer Museum of Art

Graffiti Saved My Life

University Of Maryland

Colonial Regime, We Know Them Scheme

University of Wisconsin, Kohler Art Library

The Booklyn Bridge #6Salsa

Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU)

Wellesley College, Davis Museum and Cultural Center

Slaughter of the Trees (large format)

Yale University, Robert B. Haas Family Arts Library