Al Diaz / BOMB ONE
Artist Profile
Details
Aliases: SAMO©
Started: 1971 Primary affiliations:
Local origin: Manhattan Main Lines: Fs, GGs,Js, Ms, RRs
Started: 1971 Primary affiliations:
Local origin: Manhattan Main Lines: Fs, GGs,Js, Ms, RRs
Bio
Albert Diaz has an extremely unique history that falls into three distinct chapters. It begins in the early 1970s when he pioneered the Lower East Side's graffiti movement. In 1971 very few people in the area were involved in graffiti. During this time Diaz frequently visited relatives in Washington Heights where the movement was in full force. He was inspired by what he saw, adopted the name BOMB ONE and brought the practice to the streets of the Lower East Side. He was a prolific tagger and quickly made a name for himself. He partnered with a friend SNAKE 3 and they dominated the East Village. Their work inspired scores of new writers and a full-fledged movement was established. In the mid 1970s Diaz moved to Brooklyn and devoted more time to painting subway trains. He teamed up with writers like AFX 2 and others. By 1977 Diaz was mostly retired from the subway graffiti movement.
The next chapter began in 1978 when the street art movement was in its nascent stages. Diaz teamed up with City As School classmate Jean-Michel Basquiat and they began a high volume graffiti campaign on the streets of lower Manhattan under the name SAMO©. The duo took an approach that is completely distinct from the traditional graffiti movement. They crafted poems and slogans that made political, social and philosophical critiques of mainstream culture; for example, SAMO© AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO JOE NORMAL BOOSH-WAH-ZEE FANTASIES. The mysterious graffiti garnered attention from the general public, news meda as well as the art world. It served as a launch pad for Basquiat’s meteoric rise in the art world and sowed seeds for the street art movement. Eventually Diaz and Basquiat parted ways. After the SAMO© partnership was dissolved Diaz remained active in the downtown creative scene and pursued work as a musician.
The current phase of Diaz’s career began in 2010 when he resurrected SAMO©. Some of the work is rendered in markers and spray paint as was the first SAMO© campaign, but he has also introduced typographic collage. Diaz collected “Wet Paint” signs — used by the MTA in the subway system — and cut them up and reassembled them into his philosophical SAMO© slogans. They appeared all throughout the city. He has also collaborated with muralists such as Owen Dippie and Will Power. He is active with frequent museum and gallery exhibitions including Howl Arts, Maier Museum of Art at Randolph College and Roger Gastman’s Beyond the Streets.
In 2018 SAMO©...SINCE 1978 (Ire Books), a chronicle of his work as SAMO© written by Diaz and edited by Mariah Fox was published.
Visit: Al-diaz.com
Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.
The next chapter began in 1978 when the street art movement was in its nascent stages. Diaz teamed up with City As School classmate Jean-Michel Basquiat and they began a high volume graffiti campaign on the streets of lower Manhattan under the name SAMO©. The duo took an approach that is completely distinct from the traditional graffiti movement. They crafted poems and slogans that made political, social and philosophical critiques of mainstream culture; for example, SAMO© AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO JOE NORMAL BOOSH-WAH-ZEE FANTASIES. The mysterious graffiti garnered attention from the general public, news meda as well as the art world. It served as a launch pad for Basquiat’s meteoric rise in the art world and sowed seeds for the street art movement. Eventually Diaz and Basquiat parted ways. After the SAMO© partnership was dissolved Diaz remained active in the downtown creative scene and pursued work as a musician.
The current phase of Diaz’s career began in 2010 when he resurrected SAMO©. Some of the work is rendered in markers and spray paint as was the first SAMO© campaign, but he has also introduced typographic collage. Diaz collected “Wet Paint” signs — used by the MTA in the subway system — and cut them up and reassembled them into his philosophical SAMO© slogans. They appeared all throughout the city. He has also collaborated with muralists such as Owen Dippie and Will Power. He is active with frequent museum and gallery exhibitions including Howl Arts, Maier Museum of Art at Randolph College and Roger Gastman’s Beyond the Streets.
In 2018 SAMO©...SINCE 1978 (Ire Books), a chronicle of his work as SAMO© written by Diaz and edited by Mariah Fox was published.
Visit: Al-diaz.com
Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.
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