Legendary Graffiti Writer Iz The Wiz Diez
Sorry to be such a downer but here's another obit, although one a little closer to home:
via Gothamist
Graffiti legend Iz the Wiz (real name Michael Martin) died at age 50 on June 17th, and has finally received an obituary from the Paper of Record. The artist tagged subway cars in the 1970s and 80s with his signature in "fat capital letters spray-painted on a door, below a window, across an entire car or even along the full length of a train." Throughout his career as a graffiti artist, he got his tag on every line in the subway system more times than any other, which means if you didn't ride in a car with his name, you probably saw one in a movie. He even did a two-car homage to John Lennon after he was killed in 1980, and was one of the first to work on the Phun Phactory building (now 5 Pointz).
After the jump is a video of Iz bombing his last train:
I don't know all that much about tagging, but most of what I know, I know thanks to Style Wars. I can only wish Cap had bitten it instead.
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Posted by: ed hardy | March 12, 2010 01:18 AM
I WAS GRAFFITI WRITER BACK IN THE DAYS SINCE 1979- TO MID 80'S I'M SORRY TO HEAR THE BAD NEWS. IZ THE WIZ / ZEPHYR WEAR TWO OF MY BEST WRITERS,FROM TOYS TO KINGS. WISH I WOULD HAVE MET THEM. MY PRAYERS GO OUT TO THEIR FAMILY & FRIENDS. KING OF THE A LINE (CRAZY AIM 1) AIM-1 MY CREW NON STOP GRAFFITI R.I.P.
Posted by: Ismael Ortiz Jr. | October 18, 2009 07:11 AM