Roger Gastman

Roger Gastman (born 1977) is an American curator, author, filmmaker and publisher. He is a graffiti and street art expert, brand consultant, and cultural entrepreneur.

Gastman was born in Canton, Ohio and grew up in Bethesda, Maryland, where he launched While You Were Sleeping Magazine in 1997 at the age of 19. In 2001, Gastman published Free Agents: A History of Washington, DC Graffiti on Soft Skull Press. It was the first of his 60 books to date on the subject, including The History of American Graffiti (HarperCollins), which PBS states "comprehensively documents the evolution of this often controversial art movement across the United States."

In 2004, Gastman moved to Los Angeles and published the pop culture quarterly Swindle Magazine with artist Shepard Fairey. In 2005, he produced graffiti movie Infamy with director Doug Pray. He then consulted on the Mr. Brainwash show Life is Beautiful. He was also a consulting producer on the Academy Award-nominatedBanksy-produced documentary Exit Through The Gift Shop. He co-curated the 2011 MOCA show Art in The Streets with Jeffrey Deitch and Aaron Rose, showing artists RISK, Barry McGee, Banksy, Os Gemeos, Shepard Fairey, and Mister Cartoon, among others, while setting all-time attendance records. In 2013, Gastman produced The Legend of Cool "Disco" Dan documentary film, narrated by Henry Rollins. It premiered at the AFI Theater in Silver Spring, MD accompanied by the book Pump Me Up: DC Subculture of the 1980s along with an exhibit of the same name at the Corcoran Gallery of Art. He produced and directed Wall Writers: Graffiti in Its Innocence, a documentary film about 60s and 70s-era graffiti, narrated by John Waters. He has written and published extensively on the subjects of street art and graffiti.

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