Sep 10, 2019
Street art. The misunderstood artform that many consider destructive while others embrace it as another tool amongst the disciplines of art; an expression of who one is and what they are about, and at the same time, gives the viewer something to ponder or reflect upon. That was one of the motivators for Al Diaz and Jean-Michel Basquiat when they met in high school at City As School in NYC. Al is a graffiti artist, a troubleseeker who ran the streets painting buses and subway cars as if they were his own personal canvasses. Jean-Michel rolled with a slightly more passive crowd yet they were no less talented. Once these two artists became friends, adventures would birth SAMO©, the savior of the hedonists and the young Lower East Side. But all would not be as blissful as it seemed as the two went their separate ways; Al walking away to make music and continue graffing while Jean-Michel slowly became the darling of the NYC art scene.
Some of you know the rest but Al Diaz, a living part of NYC graff history, didn't get the press and spotlight that Jean-Michel did. And it seems as if he couldn't care less. Al is doing Al. And we're doing a little episode in honor of SAMO©; the unforeseen birth, death, and resurrection of a moment in time, on this week's episode, SAMO© Had Two Heads.
