Andre Pierre Charles (born 1968) is an American artist born in Brooklyn, New York and raised in the Bronx. Charles is best known as a 1980s pioneer of the New York City graffiti art movement and for his influence on New York City nightclub and youth culture. Biography 1980's Charles began tagging on the streets of the Bronx at age 12 and had his own studio on the Grand Concourse (Bronx) at age 18, known as "The Zone". The large studio whose name was based on his alias, "Zone" became a gathering place for young graffiti artists in the mid 1980s. It was from there that Charles would extend his reach from the trains and walls of the Bronx to creating memorial walls for friends and neighbors. These memorial walls caught the attention of the public and the press and soon Charles was being commissioned to do memorial walls all over the city. In addition, Charles came to be known as a reporter of a notable person's death. Often if someone died that Charles had an attachment too, during the night Charles would busily create a memorial wall for them which would often land itself on the cover of a New York daily newspaper that morning. Some of the more notable murals included Tupac Shakur, Princess Diana and Mother Teresa. His talent was recognized early by others in the scene including the artist, Keith Haring, whom he first met in 1982 and was soon collaborating with. Known for his distinctive "Baby" tag, Charles was bombing his "Baby Brandon", usually in the form of a baby image sitting with a pacifier in the Bronx in the early 80's, while Haring was receiving attention for his crawling "Radiant Baby" in lower Manhattan. The image of an infant in their works was not the only similarity, Charles and Haring's treatment of the simple line in each of their works are remarkably similar, which led Charles to re-paint Haring's Pop Shop and many of his murals after Haring's death in 1990. 1990's Charles contributed his art to many of the night club invites being distributed during this time. This expanded into live art shows within the clubs and being involved with the promotion of specific nights, including Saturday nights at the Manhattan club, Red Zone. While Haring and Andy Warhol's daytime scene centered on an active artist's studio environment and then socializing and clubs