Iz the Wiz died on June 17 in Spring Hill, Florida, where he had moved a short time ago,of a heart attack; he was only 50. Most people across the USA, certainly most across the world, would never have heard of Iz the Wiz. Even here in NYC, where he had attracted a curious admixture of fame and infamy in the 1970s/ 1980s, most have long forgotten him. However, anyone riding the NYC Transit system during those decades might have noticed Iz the Wiz’s artistry(?) spray-painted on numerous subway trains.
Amidst the city’s most depressed and anxious times, Iz the Wiz was a legend among graffiti artists…“the longest-reigning all-city king in N.Y.C. history [according to the graffiti Web site at 149st.com]. In other words, Iz put his name, or tag, on subway cars running on every line in the system more times than any other artist.”
His real name was Michael Martin. He was born in Manhattan, never knowing his father and, after his mother was imprisoned for burglary, grew up in foster homes; as a teenager, he lived in Covenant House on the Lower East Side.
He found a sense of community in the newly emerging graffiti movement of the late 1960s, working with artists such as Vinny, Epic 1&2, and Evil 13. He went on to paint with many of the “top crews” such as the Odd Partners and the Crew, becoming president of the Master Blasters and the Queens Chapter of the Prisoners of Graffiti.
After an initial period of creativity, spray painting walls and buildings, Martin graduated to the subway. His first “easel” was the A Train, NYC’s longest subway line; this became his most worked upon, favorite place to create. He signed his works with the tag “Ike” (sans the M in Mike, his nickname).
In 1975,at the 68th Street Station on the Lexington Avenue line, he spotted a poster for the Broadway play THE WIZ. Martin reasoned that “if the Wiz is a Wow, why can’t Iz be the Wiz?” Martin’s pseudonym was born right there.
He began to extend his talents to other lines in the late 70s, his displays reaching from the top to the bottom of many a train. These were called “burners,” complicated works meant to “dazzle” the competition (and there was much competition), while bringing mostly bewilderment and anger to commuters. A friend describes Martin as “an artist but also a bomber, recognized as a person who made himself seen by everybody….At the same time he appreciated the aesthetic side of it.”
“Iz the Wiz sought fame, and found it, but not on gallery walls. His work appeared on the old dusty brown subway cars known as coal mines, and their replacements, called ding dongs for the bell tone that chimes when the doors close. Painting one of those, end to end, Mr. Martin once said, ‘was like sex in a can.’”
Source: NY Times
Please read my related post Urban Shamans.
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