A Brief Narrative
In his early teens, Asad Walker moved from his native DC and relocated to live with relatives in New England. Every holiday, he would travel back to DC to visit his family, glued to the windows of the train and scanning the graffitied walls of the cities he would pass through: Boston, NYC, Philly and Baltimore. He practiced drawing all kinds of superheroes, barbarian swordsmen and crazy letterforms in his schoolbooks. On his 16th birthday, Asad ran away from home, eventually arriving back in good old Washington, DC.
From the 70's through the early 80's, graffiti tags of individuals, neighborhoods and crews were everywhere in DC. GO GO RANDY, WHATS UP WOODY, A-TEAM, GANGSTER CHRONICLES and many, many more. Settling on his own identity: "HOBO", Asad started hanging in the crazy punk and hip hop street scene in Georgetown and downtown DC. Asad became the city's first native graffiti writer to take on New York style tagging as "RAGE". In 1985, Asad moved to New York City and had a son with Bronx native LADY PARIS. Spending the next 5 years there, Asad absorbed NYC graf culture at it's height. In 1990, he returned to DC, chose the new title "ULTRA" and began to create a reputation for himself. Unfortunately, Asad also made many mistakes and the thuggish street life he lived turned on him. Arrested for crimes unrelated to graffiti, Asad was sentenced to 5 years in Lorton, DC's notorious prison complex.
aerosol on canvas
Asad, an experienced street artist and designer, has been an innovator in Washington DC's hip hop and graffiti art movements for over 20 years. He is featured in the book "Free Agents: A History of Washington, D.C. Graffiti" and was interviewed for two recent documentaries: "Chocolate City Burning" and the upcoming Cool "DISCO" Dan film. He has spoken at a DC City Council panel and was even invited to paint at an exhibition at the Smithsonian. Since his release from prison, he has been busy painting both canvases and walls for galleries and as part of the Albus Cavus collective, whose work was featured in a recent Washington Post. He also has been teaching, both for the interested public and at-risk youth in DC and Maryland. One of his proudest teaching moments came when he was invited to return and teach at DC Jail as part of the Incarcerated Youth Program. Asad continues to work hard using his years of experience as a street artist to produce beautiful and meaningful works of art.