The Instagram account @AlbeeSquare87, which presents pictures of life in '80s New York City with a focus on Brooklyn and hip-hop culture, is now getting its own gallery exhibit. "Albee Square 87: Memory Lane in Medina" will run from June 24 to June 28 at Brooklyn’s Bishop on Bedford Gallery. Q, the man behind the Instagram account, told FADER, "From '96 to '05, I collected relics: clothing, artifacts, pictures, everything. This was the same concept that Schomburg had when he was developing the Schomburg Center in Harlem: he was trying to collect as much African history as he could so people in the '30s and '40s could have a reference for where we came from." The exhibit will draw on Q’s personal archive.
"Albee Square 87: Memory Lane in Medina" will be divided into eight sections, and each one will focus on a different theme. "Beam Me Up," for example, documents the impact of the ‘80s crack epidemic, while "In The Park" explores the public spaces that were instrumental in the development of hip-hop. The final section, "My House," is devoted to the now-shuttered Albee Square Mall which gave the Instagram account its name.
Read FADER’s interview with @albeesquare87 here.