KAIS BT FX

kaisbt
Kais was born in Puerto Rico and came to New York in 1978. He saw the graffiti on the subway train and right away knew that he wanted to get down. Kais has tagged, bombed, and done many elaborate pieces in the Bronx and other areas throughout New York.

His involvement with Hip-Hop goes back to the early 80s when he was in a break dance group called Bronx Break Masters. Currently he is involved in the world of Hip-Hop through music. Kais Raps and Sing with a Bronx group called Division X.


He still paints constantly with BT Crew and dedicates it to the public through wall production

DISCO CMP BNA

DISCO CMP
(COMITÉ de la MAFIA PARISIENNE)

BORN FROM A FRENCH MOTHER AND PUERTO RICAN FATHER IN 1974
HE STARTED PAINTING IN 1988. AT 16 HE LIVED IN THE STREETS OF SMALL STORES STEALING TO GET by IN FRANCE.

in 89 90 he started writing agian but with the cmp one of paris biggest gangs theres more then 1000 of them all over paris and are known to be the most violent.
from 1990 to 94 all he did was bomb the 2 line of paris the cmp line and also the 6,3,and 9 all with his partner sen.


from 1994 till now he has painted numerous walls more then 5000. tring to keep from the ill streets of paris painting his story on the walls . with style class, and dedicated to his roots . much respects goes to my bro disco . he gave me the best tour de france . and took me to get the illest yerba hahaha .

paz hermano


filet minion!!!

WAR 5

toomer tlok tlo

PASO TKO

KENR TKO

BLEN 167 BNA KD XMEN

FUSH

BGN

YAD TKO DWA


Thanks to the tko crew for comin threw and rockin a wall (fajardo puerto rioc 2009)

footage on war 5

GRAFFITI PLANET 2

The follow-up to the bestselling Graffiti Planet, featuring some of the world's most extraordinary graffiti.

From Banksy to Blek le Rat, Os Gemeos to Mode2, graffiti is no longer just vandalism, it has become an urban art form and a unique form of expression. In Graffiti Planet 2, KET brings together more jawdropping examples of incredible graffiti from talented artists worldwide, which transform and enrich the urban landscape. Featuring one hundred glossy images and an introduction by KET, the New York-based graffiti artist, Graffiti Planet 2 is great gift for anyone who appreciates this modern art form.


thanks ket for hooking me up in the book !

LEE QUIñONES

Born in Ponce, Puerto Rico in 1960, Quinones was raised in New York’s Lower East Side. Lee Quinones is considered the single most influential artist to emerge from the New York City subway art movement. He is a celebrated figure in both the contemporary art world and in popular culture circles, faithfully producing work that is ripe with provocative socio-political content and intricate composition. Lee’s paintings are housed in the permanent collections of the Whitney Museum of Art, the Museum of the City New York, the Groninger Museum (Groningen, Netherlands) and the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen (Rotterdam, Netherlands, and have been exhibited at the New Museum Of Contemporary Art (New York City), the Museum of National Monuments (Paris, France) and the Staatliche Museum (Germany). Quinones was raised in New York’s Lower East Side in a family that kept close ties to their cultural heritage surrounded by a predominantly Nuyorican community. By age 5, Lee showed a penchant for drawing,




Lee painted his first subway piece in 1974. Inspired by the leading figures of subway lore including Cliff 159 of the 3-Yard Boys, and Blade One of the Crazy 5, Lee began creating whole 40-foot subway car murals in late 1975. By 1976, Lee was a shadowy legend, leaving his fervent mark in a voracious whole subway car campaign strewn across the #5 IRT. Over the next decade he would paint an estimated 115 whole subway cars throughout the MTA system. In late 1975, Lee was asked to join the Fabulous Five, an elite quintet of seemingly mythic graffiti writers. The Fabulous Five’s greatest feat — the only running 10-car train painted from top to bottom, end to end — made its legendary journey in November 1976. Lee was instrumental in moving enamellist art above ground when he stealthily painted “Howard the Duck,” the first entire 25 x 30 foot handball court mural, in the spring of 1978 outside of his Corlears Junior High School #56. “There are people who see the graffiti experience as a vocation of adolescence, the rites of passage without a sense of direction,” says Lee. “I’m not surviving by offending it or defending it, but I saw it early on as a catalyst to develop as a painter and explore the other horizons outside of a forty foot subway car.

My sense of art was to create art without a reference point to art history, because this was art history in the making. A true art movement never goes by the script, instead it flips the script, faithfully reinventing itself.”Lee had his first solo exhibition at Claudio Bruni’s Galleria La Medusa in Rome, Italy late in 1979, which was also the first international show to feature graffiti-based art. One year later, Lee made his New York gallery debut with “The Third Phase” at the White Columns Gallery, ushering in an era as spray paint made the transition from moving objects to stationery canvas. That same year, he was part of the seminal Times Square show held in an abandoned massage parlor that highlighted the post-modernist masters of the day,including Jenny Holzer, Keith Haring, Kiki Smith, Jane Dickson, and Jean Michel Basquiat. Subsequent shows including the Graffiti Art Success for America at Fashion Moda in 1980 and the New York/ New Wave show in 1981 at PS1 Moma were also instrumental in introducing his work to the watchful art world. Lee’s international prominence led to celebrated solo shows such as “Rusto-LEE-Um” at the Fun Gallery and exhibits at Barbara Gladstone, Sidney Janis, Riverside Studios and the Zwirner Gallery. His paintings were included in the prestigious 1983 Documenta #7 held in Kassel, Germany. As his work gained widespread exposure, Lee found himself at the cross-section of two movements in their infancy- hip-hop and punk rock, which provided context for the direction of his work.


Much of this influence was due to Fred Brathwaite who sought out Lee in 1979. Lee credits Brathwaite - known as Fab Five Freddy- for single-handedly fusing uptown hip-hop flavor with the gritty downtown punk aesthetic.Lee starred in director Charlie Ahearn’s Wild Style, a film loosely written about Lee’s life, endearing him to a generation of hip-hop fans that premiered in 1983. His work also appeared in Tony Silvers and Henry Chalfant’s 1983 documentary film Style Wars. The art and music of the time further meshed as Lee, Fab Five Freddy and Jean Michel Basquiat designed backdrops for Blondie’s infamous “Rapture” video. Lee continued to work behind the scenes on film projects including Susan Seidelman’s Smithereens (1982) and Desperately Seeking Susan (1985) creating an alternate format that broadened his perception through the lens of the camera. He has also worked on films with Lawrence Fishburne, Rosie Perez and Fred Durst. Lee’s body of work extends across a massive scope – from canvas to large murals and installation to elaborate commissions. His collaborations with companies include a 25th anniversary edition of the Adidas shoe as part of a series including the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Missy Elliott, of which his edition sold out worldwide in half a day. He has also worked with Ford Motor Company, Nike, IFC TV, Viacom, Absolute Vodka, and Automobile Magazine among others.


Lee has lectured at universities and cultural institutions including New York University, Columbia University, the University of New Mexico, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and the Institute of North American Studies in Barcelona, Spain. Lee has twice beenrecognized at the VH1 Hip-Hop Honors awards show and he was a recipient of the Jam Master Jay Award for the Arts in 2007. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, he raised $65,000 for the Boys and Girl’s Clubs of America by riding a bicycle from New York to Miami. For his humanitarian efforts, October 27th is officially Lee Quinones Day in New York, an honored bestowed by both Manhattan and Brooklyn borough presidents. While the nature of Lee’s work continues to evolve, his artistic identity remains rooted in principle and adherence to highly detailed, composition that defined his work on the subways. Art critic Carlo McCormick writes “While much of his current oeuvre continues to embody the energy and movement that typified his early work, it is formally much more complex. Quinones’ art has essentially been a search for a greater metaphor than for mere topicality. His trains of the past, along with the murals and canvases of today have consistently distilled his introspective journey into self-awareness within broader, universal themes. His personal experience, the consciousness of who he is and what he feels, is but a jumping point to an epic accessible language and spatially allegorical narratives. In the technological age whose cyber-arena is the basis of information exchange, Lee is ever conscious of the heroic and mythic dimension of the street. His vision is a continuum of romantic rebelliousness.”

1990s

BLEN REEL ARECIBO

BEX SKE EKC REEL 1993 (RES. BRISAS CAGUAS)


EKC BEX DEF , MAD

LAVA ONE

lava was born in Spanish Harlem in 1953 to a mother and father who came from Carolina Puerto Rico which is the home of the famous Base Ball player ROBERTO CLEMENTE. Many thought he was just a light skin black dude or what they referred to many brothers back then as “High Yellow.” But he Boricua from uptown Manhattan. he began writing with his brother KOOL BREEZE in 1970 or the early part of 1971. they both love hitting the buses and walls, it is what many writers did back then, guys like CAY 161, JUNIOR 161, TAKI 183, JOE 182, TONY184, EDDIE 181, COOL CLIFF 120, C.A.T.-87, HILT 505, CENTURY 120, JOCKEY 1, MAJOR 120, CLANCY 120, HULK 62, EDDIE 181, WEB 1&2, JEE 126, CAR 54 and BORICUA 1(from the Broadway line) Were dudes they saw hitting the streets and buses before moving over to subway cars.

Lava started his writing career in Spanish Harlem under the name STRAIGHT MAN or sometimes SM for short. In the 1960's and early 1970's the Outlaw Street gangs were a way of life in New York city and Lava was a big part of that, becoming division leader of one of the most feared but respected gangs of New York city ( The Back Spades ) in the early 70's. Under the name Straight man he would become a very well know writer on the Buses and streets, writing with the likes of early single hit ( Taggers) kings : COOL CLIFF 120, HILT 505, PIPER 1 and JACE 2, until moving on to the Subways. Lava would later make his name big on the Bronx and Brooklyn lines and join forces with some the biggest writing groups of the time, The I.N.D'S ( THE INDEPENDENTS ), T.E.D-INC ( THE EBONY DUKES ) and Brooklyn's elite groups the EX/VANDALS and W.A.R ( WRITERS ARE RESPECTED ). These alliances would help Lava to become a very big City wide writers on the I.R.T's, B.M.T's and I.N.D's. During the early generation of Master pieces he would play a big part in the evolution, painting with the likes of PHASE2, LIONEL 168, STAFF 161 and TRACY 168. There are many Subway Kings left out of History, Here is his story.









subway outlaws!!

MICO - Original School Writer

Graffiti writer Alski, one of the first in Los Angeles

Alski throw-up at the Rapid Transit District (RTD is now Metro) bus alley near 6th Street and Wilton, 1985.

Alski, is considered to be one of the earliest Los Angeles graffiti writers during a time when tagging was a foreign word. He was born in the Bronx, New York from Puerto Rican parents and moved to Los Angeles in early 1980s . His first tags went up in Los Angeles in 1983 when there were very few taggers. He was consider the most prolific writer in Los Angeles history until a writer named Chaka hit the scene in the late 1980s. Other writers known during the early 1980s included, Davism (later became Miner), Jazz, Geo, Skept, Soon and Legit.

Jean-Michel Basquiat

Born: 22nd December 1960
Died: 12th August 1988
Citizenship: us
Place(s) of work: New York (us)

Born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1960 to a Puerto Rican mother and Haitian father, Jean-Michel Basquiat was the quintessential 1980s graffiti-writer-turned-artist, reaching a level of international fame at 23 that was, and still is, unmatched. Basquiat’s story is essentially the narrative of his breakneck trajectory, from early stardom to his heroin overdose at 27. But even his death could not halt the meteoric rise of his reputation; indeed, his premature demise only accelerated it. Since Basquiat’s overdose in 1988, his paintings--inspired by urban graffiti and African sculpture (as filtered t … (read more)

Born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1960 to a Puerto Rican mother and Haitian father, Jean-Michel Basquiat was the quintessential 1980s graffiti-writer-turned-artist, reaching a level of international fame at 23 that was, and still is, unmatched. Basquiat’s story is essentially the narrative of his breakneck trajectory, from early stardom to his heroin overdose at 27. But even his death could not halt the meteoric rise of his reputation; indeed, his premature demise only accelerated it. Since Basquiat’s overdose in 1988, his paintings--inspired by urban graffiti and African sculpture (as filtered through Picasso)--have been honored with major retrospectives and monographs, and prices for his art now reach into the millions on a regular basis. Ironically, the work of the youngest and shortest–lived artist of the so-called 1980s “Neo-Expressionist” movement, which also included Julian Schnabel and Francesco Clemente, has proven to be the most enduring by far.

A troubled teenager, Basquiat ran away from his middle-class household at 15, living in Washington Square park and at friends' houses while gaining some notoriety as a graffiti artist under the tag SAMO, short for “same old shit.” In 1977 he dropped out of high school and by 1979 was a well-known presence on the East Village scene, appearing on Glenn O’Brien’s cable access show “TV Party” and in a Blondie video. In 1980 Basquiat was in his first group show and only a year later the downtown poet and critic Rene Ricard had announced his arrival in a piece for Art Forum titled "The Radiant Child." By 1983 Basquiat was a full-blown international art star, showing at the most powerful galleries in the world: Annina Nosei, Gagosian, Mary Boone, and Bruno Bishofberger. He had also begun to indulge in a life of reckless hedonism, doing copious drugs, dating an ever-revolving roster of women (including Madonna), and throwing money out of limousines driving through the Lower East Side. In 1984 he began a close relationship with Andy Warhol, whom Basquiat had first met when, at 18, he approached the Pop artist and eminent curator Henry Geldzahler at a SoHo restaurant, offering to sell them postcard-sized artworks. (Warhol bought one for $1.) Acting as Warhol's protege, Basquiat looked to the older artist as a father figure of sorts--Basquiat’s own relationship with his father was strained at this point--and Warhol took him under his wing, promoting his work and encouraging him to lead a healthier lifestyle. The two also collaborated on a number of artworks, which were poorly received by critics. Of one, the New York Times described it as "large, bright, messy, full of private jokes and inconclusive."

Basquiat’s work and lack of training reflected his perceived “wildness” and added to a romantic myth that some critics derided as a racist, with Basquiat filling the role of untamed black naïf. Basquiat’s canvases were full of noise: references, phrases, images, text, and sculpture, always coalesced under his characteristically nervous but energetic line and his lyrical placement of imagery. "Every line means something," Basquiat said of his work. In his earliest paintings, Basquiat frequently referred to a copy of Gray’s Anatomy given to him by his mother during a hospital stay, and references to death through skulls and skeletons were a major motif in his work. Later he turned to themes of the African Diaspora (he showed in Cote D'Ivoire) and in these canvases politically-charged images were often coupled with three-dimensional elements recalling Robert Rauschenberg’s “combine” paintings of the 1950s. "The black person is the protagonist in most of my paintings," Basquiat said. "I realized that I didn't see many paintings with black people in them."

Basquiat was not without his critics however, who charged that fame and exploitation by his dealers was fueling the rote production of a seemingly endless stream of canvases and reinforcing the drug habit that was now required to keep up the pace, and which eventually killed him. Over time however, Basquiat’s reputation has only grown, even surpassing his legend. In the last twenty years his talent has been established as fact by curators, critics, the market, and the public alike. In 1996, Basquiat’s life was turned into a movie directed by fellow 1980s art star, Julian Schnabel. Most recently, Basquiat’s legacy was honored by a major 2005 retrospective at the Brooklyn Museum that subsequently traveled to the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angles.

Norberto "Willie" Ortero (SHY147) rest in peace

BRIM TATS

DONE IN LONDON 1985 he was one of the first boricuas to go to europe to paint