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THE KOOL ARTIST
KID 56 aka K56 a writer from The Bronx was the younger brother FDT 56 a legend from a previous generation of graffiti writers. KID was one of the late 1970's most prolific bombers. His name could be seen on all seven IRT lines as well as many of the BMT and IND lines. In the late 1970's KID 56 formed the crew; The Kool Artist. TKA membership was composed mainly of writers from the 4 and 5 lines in The Bronx. Some of TKA's more famous members were MARE 139 his brother KEL139, DR. PEPPER aka FACT aka CODE, KID 's cousin MOUSEY 56 aka M 56, APS 167, MAX 183, MITCH 77, TEX 183, MED.


kel kid56 mare

In 1978 KID 56 joined forces with Brooklyn's DONDI and DURO of the CIA crew. The bonding of these writers produced paintings with color and style that was absent on the BMTs during the late 70's and early 80's.

KEL and MARE also produced many cars on the IRTs with other writers like CRASH, COS 207 and SEEN UA. Many of these works included BODE characters with which KEL is strongly identified. The late SHY 147 also teamed up with KEL for a series of works. KEL continued writing throughout the years connecting with MIN ONE and crews like TVS and RTW.

Starting in the 1990s MARE and KEL are became involved in new media. Their Web site Voice of the Ghetto provided one of the earliest appeanceces of graffiti on the internet.

TKA remained active as a crew until the early 1980s.

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