Shoe's Black Book - Graffiti in the 1980s by Niels Shoe Meulman SPECIAL edition

Pre-ordered books will be shipped around December 6, 2025 - the date of the release.

Shoe’s Black Book − Graffiti in the 1980s by Niels Shoe Meulman offers a window into an artist’s formative years. Before the galleries, the recognition, his development as a typographer and founding the Calligraffiti art movement, there was this: a worn and relentless black book filled with tags, pieces and outlines.

Between 1985 and 1987, Niels Shoe Meulman (Amsterdam, 1967) documented his growth from wide-eyed newcomer to an artist who has fully developed his own style.

More than just a sketchbook, this black book is a testament to when Shoe tagged along with New York artists like Rammellzee, Dondi White and Keith Haring. It’s a record of learning: part diary, part playground, part testing ground. Here is a facsimile of a book that was stolen and mysteriously returned. But it’s also adorned: Shoe’s additional notes and sharp recollections bring the era into focus.

Each page captures graffiti knowledge, passed down mouth-to-mouth and hand-to-hand. Shoe’s Black Book is both document and artefact: immediate, unpolished, authentic. While other books record a culture, this one helped build it.

Note: The book is published in two formats: paperback and hardcover. The hardcover is a special limited edition, available exclusively through the artist and the publisher. Both variations, special and regular, are hand signed with a Shoe tag, which forms an integral part of the typographic cover design.

Special
Format: Hardcover, numbered.
Comes with a dust jacket that includes an original art work by Shoe on the inside
Size: 24 × 33 cm
Extent: 232 pages
Publication date: 6 December 2025
Language: English
ISBN: 9789083349367
Authors: Niels Shoe Meulman, Carlo McCormick
Editorial direction: Ferry van Zijderveld
Copy editing: Steve Korver
Design: UNDOG
Publisher: Ruyzdael Publishing (Amsterdam, Netherlands)

The images in this file are mockups and may be different than the final result.

The production of the book and its presentation were made possible with support by the Mondriaan Fund.