Anthony Clark, better known as A-One, was born in Manhattan in 1964 and grew up in the South Bronx. From the mid-1970s he began painting New York subway cars. He became a member of the Tag Master Killers crew, founded by Rammellzee, whose members also included Delta2, Kool Koor, and Toxic. The group’s philosophy was rooted in the idea of “Gothic Futurism,” which understood graffiti as a tool in the struggle to reclaim language within an unjust society. Despite their socially critical stance, by the 1980s they too became integrated into the art market. In 1982 A-One exhibited in Camouflaged Panzerism at Fashion Moda, after which he came under the mentorship of Jean-Michel Basquiat. The following year he took part in Jenny Holzer’s Survival Series at London’s Lisson Gallery, as well as in the influential Post-Graffiti exhibition at the Sidney Janis Gallery in New York. His career was tragically cut short when he died in Paris at the age of 37. His painting Gangster Roc City (also transcribed as GangsteRoCity) features, on the far left, a sketch-like depiction of a gun-wielding figure—a gangster, or gang member. Behind him the arched skyline of New York’s skyscrapers stretches across the canvas. Other elements include the muzzle flash of the weapon and sweeping, spray-painted gestures that partly define the outlines of the figure and partly dissolve into abstract marks and inscriptions across the surface.