Biography

Antar K. Fierce was born and raised in the Bedford Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, New York. His education in art began on the subway platforms of New York City. He first took an interest in graffiti at the age of 11 (1983) as it was part of a new urban youth culture called Hip Hop. In 1985, he began photographing New York subway graffiti as a way to study its aesthetic. Through that process, Fierce was introduced to the art of photography. From that point he became a devoted photographer and documentarian of the artform. From 1986 to 1989, he relentlessly documented the final years of classical New York City subway graffiti and amassed one of the largest original photo collections to date. In the Fall of 1989 Antar relocated to Atlanta Georga to attend Clark Atlanta University. He immediately noticed Atlanta’s version of graffiti had already taken root. Over the next 30+ years, Antar immersed himself in the local graffiti scene. During that span he earned a bachelor’s degree in history from Clark Atlanta University (1995) and launched Steel Wheels a lifestyle brand that celebrates the history of graffiti art on trains. In 2021, Antar earned a Master’s degree in Creative and Innovative Education from Georgia State University and began teaching graffiti’s basic process learners of all ages. Antar has contributed to a number of periodicals, books and films on the subject of graffiti, most recently Rolling Like Thunder (Showtime 2021) And City Of Kings Atlanta (Independent 2024). He has also curated several exhibitions based on the graffiti art movement including Kings Arrive (Eyedrum Art Gallery, 2024) and Jack Stewart: The Birth Of Subway Graffiti (Gallery 378, 2022). Guest speaking engagements include College English Association 2023 conference and guest presenter at Howard University’s annual Hip Hop Studies conference (2025). Currently, Antar puts his passion for graffiti and Hip-Hop history to work by helping to realize graffiti as a global art movement worthy of study at the college and university level. Additionally, using his experience as a practitioner, Antar brings the graffiti art making process to K-Adult education spaces as a model for authentic learning.