Iz the Wiz
Iz the Wiz (actually Michael Martin ; born November 30, 1958 , † June 17, 2009 ) was an American graffiti artist. He was one of the first and most famous graffiti artists in New York in the 1970s and 1980s .
Life
Iz the Wiz has been active in the graffiti scene since 1972. A poster for the Broadway musical The Wiz inspired his stage name Iz the Wiz in 1975. In the New York borough of Queens , he preferably installed his works on the A subway line , but also on walls. With the trains his name moved through the city and made him known. In one night he was able to create over 100 throw-ups , quickly painted pictures with single-colored hatched fillings. But he was also known for his larger, more elaborately designed pictures.
His motifs were mostly colorful lettering that filled the wagon, but also portraits such as B. by John Lennon. As one of the first graffiti artists, he placed particular emphasis on maintaining a balance between quantity and quality and thus became a role model for the generation of writers that came after him. In 1983 Iz the Wiz appeared in the documentary Style Wars . He also had a small role in Wild Style that same year .
In the mid-1980s, the New York authorities took action against graffiti on the subway. Iz the Wiz then withdrew more and more from the graffiti scene, only in the 1990s he became more active in the scene again and helped, among other things, to set up the Phun Factory , a place in Queens where writers from 1994 to 2001 could legally spray. In 1996 he was diagnosed with kidney damage, probably a result of spraying without a protective mask, which forced him to dialysis . Most recently he became increasingly impoverished and moved to live with his brother in Florida. Five days before his death, he painted a life-size replica of a subway train in an art gallery in the Bronx and produced a video of it.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c sha: Legendary graffiti artist: "Iz the Wiz" is dead . Spiegel Online, June 29, 2009.
- ↑ a b c Telegraph.co.uk: Iz the Wiz . Telegraph.co.uk, June 23, 2009.
- ↑ YouTube: Iz the Wiz BOMBING ONE LAST TRAIN .
Web links
- sha: Legendary graffiti artist: "Iz the Wiz" is dead . Spiegel Online, June 29, 2009.
- Telegraph.co.uk: Iz the Wiz . Telegraph.co.uk, June 23, 2009.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Iz the Wiz |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Martin, Michael (real name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American graffiti artist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | November 30, 1958 |
| DATE OF DEATH | June 17, 2009 |