Iz-The-Wiz RIP

When I first came to NYC in the '80s every once in a while these fully painted subway cars would pull in to the station...they were amazing! One of the leaders of that gang recently passed away.

Graffiti artist Michael Martin—Iz the Wiz—died on June 17 in Spring Hill, Florida, where he had moved a few years ago, according to the New York Times. Iz the Wiz was a legend among graffiti artists, by almost all accounts “the longest-reigning all-city king in New York City history,” as the graffiti Web site At149st.com puts it. Iz put his name, or tag, on subway cars running on every line in the system more times than any other artist.

Though he began with the A subway line, in the late 1970s he branched out to other lines, spray-painting top-to-bottoms (graffiti displays extending from the top of a train to the bottom), burners (complicated works intended to dazzle the competition), and fully realized scenes, like his homage to John Lennon, painted after Lennon was shot to death in 1980. He also appeared in the role of a transit police detective in the cult 1983 film Wild Style.