Most newer generation writers are more familiar with the body of work DONDI accrued on IRT subway division, but DONDI made considerable pieces on the BMT subway division. During the late 1970s DONDI was hitting the BMTs with style and color schemes far more sophisticated than his peers. At this point in time skilled writers like the Prisoners Of Graffiti crew, DON of MAFIA crew and most members of The Fabulous 5 had stopped painting. For the most part throw-ups and quick straight letter pieces rendered in a limited color pallet were the rage. If not for DONDI, his crew and a small handful of others benching would have been pretty dismal. Dondi had one quotation famous to graffiti writers: "...in the midst of all that metal, you're here to produce something, try to produce something...".
This is one of Dondi’s earlier works. Although simple, this type of art paved the way for more technical aerosol painting for the late 70’s.
“WHITE”-Which was Dondi’s second tag name (DONDI WHITE). (Aerosol artists almost never used their real names in their tag names because of obvious reasons).
The All Time All-City King
Started Writing: 1972
Affiliations: TMB, POG, TOP, 3YB, TC
Local origin: Queens, NYC
Areas Hit: ALL CITY!
IZ THE WIZ is without question one of New York City's most prolific graffiti writers. IN aka KILL 3 is credited with the most extensive all-city bombing in NYC during 1975 and 76, but IZ was the longest reigning all-city king in NYC history, taking the title many times throughout the 1970s and 1980s.
IZ was well known for his throw-ups in the mid 1970s on the IND and BMT subway divisions. In the late 1970s he broadened his focus by working on top-to-bottoms, burners and scenery whole cars on the prestigious 2 and 5 lines of the IRT subway division. During this period he simultaneously maintained all-city throw-up king status. He painted for a variety of top level crews. He has served as president of The Master Blasters and the Queens Division Of Prisoners Of Graffiti. He has also painted for The Odd Partners, The Crew, The Three Yard Boys and others too numerous to mention. IZ appeared in the documentary film Style Wars and portrayed a transit police detective in the film Wild Style. His work has been displayed in museums and galleries throughout the world. His most recent exhibition was at the Queens Museum of Art in June 2001.
This piece was painted when IZ was part of “The Master Blasters”. He often used quirky aerosol can cartoons in his art as well as other characters from day-to-day life.
This type of piece is called a throwup. Throwups are mainly used to mark where someone has been, not a type of piece that would take a great amount of time and effort, and usually done in a rushed manor, hence the name “Throwup”.
