Charlie Ahearn is an American film director and creative cultural artist living in New York City. Although predominantly involved in film and video production, he is also known for his work as a visual artist, author and radio host.
Charlie is the celebrated director and producer of "Wild Style", an independent film that was released in 1982 to immediate critical acclaim. "Wild Style" is widely considered to be the first film to document New York’s emerging Hip-Hop scene and was described by the New York Times (David Gonzalez, November 11, 2008) as “a film that envisioned the future of Hip-Hop culture.” The film has since become a classic.
Charlie was also the director of "The Deadly Art of Survival", a Kung Fu film shot on Super 8 in 1979. It was Charlie’s production of a silkscreen poster for the movie that prompted continued use of the medium and later resulted in a historic Times Square Show poster, created with the painter, Jane Dickson.
Charlie has been collaborating with Gary Lichtenstein since 2016. Charlie’s works on canvas, all of which incorporate silkscreen, integrate his rich photographic history with his love of color. The paintings have been exhibited widely beginning in 2017 with a solo exhibition at PPOW Gallery, NYC. A group exhibition entitled, “Elements of Style” followed at SSAC Gallery, Korea and, immediately thereafter, several of Charlie’s paintings were selected for exhibition within “Beyond the Streets,” Los Angeles. This year, Charlie’s work was included in “Beyond the Streets,” NYC and “Custom Beats: The Art of Hip Hop,” a group exhibition at the Fullerton Museum in California.
This past Fall, “Elements of Style” embarked upon a three year museum tour in China, beginning with the DSM International Center in Wuhan.