“In the art of Walt Cassidy, jewelry, sculpture, drawing and photography collide. Process feeds process; he works it through, works it out even – in what constitutes an art of translation. Biography is fractured into distilled moments of metaphor and motif. Viewing his art is like sneaking a peep of a diary, but that diary is coded and enigmatic: sensory – not legible.”  

- Alice Butler for König, Berlin. 

Waltpaper (Walt Cassidy) is an interdisciplinary artist, writer and curator based in Brooklyn, New York. As a subcultural diarist, his explorative and allegorical work is rooted in first hand experiences of identity, gender, sexuality, creative independence and self exploration. Considered one of the foremost voices on New York City’s vibrant art, street and nightlife culture, he has published the books New York Club Kids (Damiani, 2019), The Club Kids (Hotglue, 2024), and Morning Whispers (Hotglue, 2024); and has contributed writing for New York, Interview, Candy, and Impulse magazines, as well as, the books Club Kids from Speakeasies to Boombox and Beyond (Blackdog, 2008) and On The Dancefloor Spinning Out On Screen (A24, 2022).

In 1991, as a teenager, Waltpaper became a central figure within the Club Kids, an artistic and fashion conscious youth movement that emerged from New York City’s thriving nightlife industry. The Club Kids were popularized though their appearances on daytime talk shows, fashion editorials and music videos—making lasting impressions on art, fashion and street culture. During this time he founded the musical group BOOB and the artist collective BLUEPRINT; established an exhibition space, The Little Paper Gallery, within the nightclub Limelight; and contributed writing and editorials for Project X magazine.

Stepping away from nightlife in 1996, he became the Exhibitions Director for 303 Gallery before moving to London in 2002, where he curated the exhibitions: Robert Mapplethorpe Sculptures and Hand Painted Photographs at Aspery Jacques Gallery and Kenneth Anger Invocation of My Demon Brother at Stuart Shave Modern Art, while also serving as Director of Delfina, the UK’s largest artist residency. Returning to New York in 2005, he debuted new photography works at MASS MOCA’s exhibition, The Believers, and began exhibiting with the gallery Invisible Exports. In 2014, he turned towards jewelry design, painted murals, printed matter and writing—which led to the creation of his first book, New York Club Kids.

Waltpaper has appeared in various documentaries and podcasts; been profiled by Vogue, Architectural Digest, Artforum, I-D, Dazed, Another Man, Document, Them, New York Post, Daily Mail and La Repubblica; featured in fashion campaigns for Levis and Esprit; and staged pop-up readings at Village Works, Bureau of General Service—Queer Division and Citiot.

His artworks have been exhibited at Mass MOCA, Vox Populi, Invisible Exports, 303 Gallery, New Discretions, Natalie Kates Projects, Deitch Projects, Paul Kasmin Gallery, Torrence Museum of Art and Watermill Center. He has collaborated with Opening Ceremony, Derek Lam, The Standard Hollywood, Selena Hotel, Long Life China Company, Galeria Melissa and Limited Edition Miami.

He is currently at work on a new book to be released in Japan, Spring 2026.

Selected Bibliography and Press

• Waltpaper, Morning Whispers, Published by Hotglue, 2024.

• Waltpaper, “Where Club Kids Loaded Up on Macrobiotic Dinners”, New York, April 8, 2024.

• Walt Cassidy, “Susanne Bartsch and Walt Cassidy Have Seen It All”, Interview, January 24, 2020

• Melissa Malanut, “The Original Influencers NYC’s 90’s Club Kids”, New York Post, January 23, 2020

• Mark Holgate, “Walt Cassidy: Publishes New York Club Kids and Collaborates With Opening Ceremony”, Vogue, November 12, 2019

• Masha Orlav, “Renaissance Artist & Writer Walt Cassidy aka Waltpaper”, The Know, November 29

• Lara Delmage, “Walt Cassidy - Destroyed and Reimagined”, Metal, November 2019

• Brittany Natale, “Rare Photos of New York’s Iconic Club Kids”, I-D, November 26, 2019

• Elyssa Goodman, “When The Club Kids Ruled New York”, THEM, November 26, 2019

• Jessica Heron-Langton, “Opening Ceremony Drops a Club Kid-inspired Collection”, DAZED, November 12, 2019

• Nicole DeMarco, “Opening Ceremony’s New Capsule is a Love Letter to 90’s Club Kids”, I-D, November 12, 2019

• Rachel Cheung, “New York Club Kids: Waltpaper’s Dazzling Ode to America’s First True Influencers”, Document, November 8, 2019

• Mikelle Street, “How the Club Kids Mapped Out Everything We Think About Culture Today”, Out, September 19, 2019

• Miss Rosen, “Remembering the Club Kids, the Last Subculture of the Analogue Age”, Another Man, September 9, 2018

• Sabrina Cooper, “Club Kid Walt Cassidy on his Epic Visual Love Letter to 90’s NYC Nightlife”, DAZED, September 2019

• Christopher Bollen, “The Club Kids According to Walt Cassidy”, Interview, September 2019

• Marigold Warner, “New York Club Kids: Rewriting the Narrative”, British Journal of Photography, August 16, 2019

• Mikelle Street, "Club Kid Walt Cassidy's Next Act", Architectural Digest, January 16, 2018

• Sheila Flynn, "The Club Kids", Daily Mail, September 4, 2017

• Stefano Guerrini, "Walt Cassidy", Cosmopolitan Italy, April 27, 2017

• Nicola Wylie, "The Mind of Creative Inspiration", Alumind, April 14, 2017

• Alison S. Cohn, "It Takes Two", ELLE, December 2015

• Lynn Yeager, "Walt Cassidy: Natural Instinct", Vogue, June 2015

• Walt Cassidy, “Historic Fiction: Life Inside The Club Kids”, Candy #8, December 2014

• Kembra Pfahler, “Interview - Walt Cassidy:Performance Art 101 Part I &II”, Know-Wave Radio, Dec. 2014

• Honey Redmond, "Club Kid Turned Modern Day Shaman", Style.com, September 19, 2014.

• Justin Fulton, "In The House: Walt Cassidy", OAK, August 2014.

• James Nichols, “After Dark: Meet Walt Cassidy, Artist...”, The Huffington Post, May 31, 2014.

• Alice Butler, “Work-Out” - An Interview With Walt Cassidy, Koenig, 2014

• Juliana Huxtable, "The Blossoming Cage", BARON #3, 2014

• Paradigm Volume 1, 2014

• WarpTV/Art Brut, “Walt Cassidy”, Art Brut series, Televised Artist Profile

• Ernie Glam and Alexis Dibasio, FABULOUSITY, Wildlife Press, 2013

• Katherine K. Zarrella, “Quality Control”, BON, Stockholm, August/Winter 2013

• Jake Shears, “Meet Waltpaper, Meet Walt Cassidy”, BUFFALO Zine #2, 2013

• Lorenzo Martone, “Art Basel Miami”, Fashion Week Daily, 2012

• Lisa Anastos, “Dear Daily! Live From Art Basel Miami Beach, Fashion Week Daily, 2012

• Victor P. Corona, “Walt Cassidy”, VITRINE , Summer 2012

• Joseph Akel, “The Displaced Person”, ARTFORUM, January 2012

• Kathleen Massara, “The Displaced Person”, Huffington Post, January 2012

• Doug McClemont, “Top Ten Shows in New York”, Saatchi Online, January 2012

• Beth Citron, Critic’s Pick, ARTFORUM, April 2010

• Christopher Bollen, “The Magic of Walt Cassidy”, Interview, March 2010

• Alex Gartenfeld, “The Interpretation of Dreams”, Interview, April 2010

• Jack Pierson, “Diary”, Whitewall, Summer 2008

• Club Kids From Speakeasies To Boombox & Beyond, Black Dog Pubishing Limited, London, 2008

• John E. Mitchell, “Following the Ritual”, North Adams Transcript, May 2007

  Selected Exhibitions

  2024

• HOTGLUE Pop-Up Reading, January 24th, Village Works, New York.

  2023

• Power Flower - Residential Mural Commission for June Parina, Savannah, Georgia.

  2022

• The Dance of The Plumeria - Outdoor Garden Mural Commission, HOWM Restaurant, New York.

  2021

• Tropical Nest - Residential Mural Commission for Michele Saunders, Catskill, New York.

  2020

• Things On Walls, curated by Benjamin Tischer/New Discretions, Affective Care, New York.

  2015

• Interface: Queer Artists Forming Communities Through Social Media, curated by Walt Cessna,  Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art, New York.

  2014

• The Botanica, curated by AA Bronson and Michael Bühler-Rose, Invisible Exports, New York

• Trip The Light Fantastic, curated by Natalie Kates Projects, High Line Gallery, New York.

• Walt Cassidy - The Nervous Peal Collection, Jewelry Pop Up, ODD., New York

  2013

• ARTCORE, Galerie Melilli Manchinetti, Berlin

• Drawing Down The Moon, curated by Andrew Suggs, VOX POPULI, Philadelphia, PA

• Devil’s Heaven, The Watermill Center, Watermill NY

• Bufffalo #2 ,The Opening, Madrid, Paris, Tokyo, London

• The Wishing Well, Galeria Melissa, New York, NY

• I Killed My Father, I Ate Human Flesh: Pier Paolo Pasolini, Allegra LaViola Gallery, New York, NY

  2012

• NADA Art Fair Miami, INVISIBLE-EXPORTS, Booth 305, Miami FL

• BANZAI!!!, The Red Lotus Room, Brooklyn NY

• The Displaced Person, INVISIBLE-EXPORTS, New York, NY

  2011

• The Unseen, The Torrance Museum of Art, Torrance, CA

  2010

• Summer Camp / Lost Horizon, curated by Billy Miller, This Is Exile, Berlin, Germany

• The Protective Motif, INVISIBLE-EXPORTS, New York, NY

• Closed For Installation, 303 Gallery, New York, NY

  2007

• The Believers, curated by Elizabeth Thomas and Nato Thompson, MASS MOCA, North Adams, MA

• Womanizer, curated by Kembra Pfahler, Deitch Projects, New York, NY

  2006

• Gay Art Now, curated by Jack Pierson, Paul Kasmin Gallery, New York, NY

  2005

• Male Multiple, curated by Desi Santiago, Stay Gold Gallery, Brooklyn, NY