IZ the Wiz

Martin was from the New York City borough of Queens, a Rockaway Beach native. Beginning in 1972, he became a long reigning all-city king of New York, known primarily for his quick, simple two letter tag, 'IZ'.{{Cite web |last=Allah |first=Sha Be |date=2020-11-10 |title=Today in Hip-Hop History: The Source Remembers Graf Legend Iz The Wiz On His Birthday - The Source |url=https://thesource.com/2020/11/09/today-in-hip-hop-history-the-source-remembers-graf-legend-iz-the-wiz-on-his-birthday/,%20https://thesource.com/2020/11/09/today-in-hip-hop-history-the-source-remembers-graf-legend-iz-the-wiz-on-his-birthday/ |access-date=2023-12-18 |language=en-US}} IZ represented a new breed of fame-obsessed writers concerned with finding the perfect balance between quantity and quality. He also wrote "CI" (for Crazy IZ), and "Ike", (short for Mike).{{Cite web |title=Iz the Wiz @149st |url=http://www.at149st.com/iz.html |access-date=2023-12-18 |website=www.at149st.com}} He was a member of various crews, the most notable being TMB (The Master Blasters), RTW (Rolling Thunder Writers),{{cite web |last1=Revolt |title=Rolling Thunder Writers! Bilrock RTW |url=http://subwayoutlaws.com/Interviews/BILROCK%20161%20page%202.htm |website=subwayoutlaws.com |access-date=4 June 2024 |date=23 August 2007}} and TPA (The Public Animals).{{Cite web |title=Joey TPA Interview @149st |url=http://www.at149st.com/joeytpa2.html |access-date=2023-12-18 |website=www.at149st.com}} He wrote graffiti on every train line in New York City.

IZ THE WIZ first started writing with Evil 13

and FI 1 (aka VINNY). After going through a variety of names, including BENZ, CLICK2, and SCAT, he wrote his name Mike then dropped the first letter and chose IKE327. He began to write IZ first with VINNY. In 1976 when the movie The Wiz came out, advertising posters on the subway stations stated 'the Wiz is a Wow'. So IZ thought if the wiz is a wow why can't IZ be THE WIZ. So was born the name IZ THE WIZ.{{citation needed|date=November 2023}}

On September 29, 1990, Martin married Katherine M. Lucev, also from the Rockaways, in St. Rose of Lima Church in Rockaway Beach, New York.{{citation needed|date=November 2023}}

Martin was diagnosed with kidney failure in 1996 after years of using toxic aerosol products without any type of protective mask. In early 2000, in an interview for Style Wars revisited, he commented that he would give up all his past fame for full health.{{cite web |last1=Nagshineh |first1=Alex |title=Film Review: Style Wars: Revisited |url=https://www.bonafidemag.com/film-review-style-wars-revisited/ |website=bonafidemag.com |access-date=4 June 2024 |date=24 March 2010}}

IZ was prominently featured in the 1983 documentary Style Wars.{{cite web |title=Iz the Wiz |url=https://dirtypilot.com/collections/iz-the-wiz |website=dirtypilot.com |access-date=4 June 2024}} His work, which appeared in the book Subway Art, has been credited with inspiring European graffiti in particular; Martin's piece Hell IZ for Children became influential in Europe where the use of his tag to form a sentence and his freeform style has been incorporated and adapted by contemporary graffiti artists.{{cite journal |last1=Kimvall |first1=Jakob |title=The Holy Grail of Freeform Graf |journal=Underground Productions |date=Winter 2008 |issue=39 |pages=61–63 |issn=1401-8659}}

In 1993 Martin founded the Phun Phactory in New York which would become the 5 Pointz art gallery.{{cite web |title=Phun Factory 10 Years Later, A Reunion on the Street |url=https://www.brooklynstreetart.com/2010/06/23/phun-phactory-10-years-later-a-reunion-on-the-street/ |website=brooklynstreetart.com |access-date=4 June 2024 |date=23 June 2010}} In August 2003 he self-curated a solo gallery exhibition in New York City showcasing his legal artwork.{{citation needed|date=November 2023}}

File:IZ THE WIZ Wikimedia Photo.jpg, 1993]]

IZ had his art appear in video games such as Marc Eckō's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure and The Warriors. His tag is also featured in the 1979 cult movie The Warriors, and his work is mentioned in Lauren Wilkinson's novel American Spy in a scene where the protagonist is walking down a NYC street covered by IZ tags.

In 2013 the artists Revok and Pose incorporated Martin's tag into a mural painted on the Bowery Wall in tribute to deceased New York graffiti artists.{{cite news |last1=Harrington |first1=Steven |last2=Rojo |first2=Jaime |title=REVOK and POSE and the Transformation of The Houston Wall |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/revok-and-pose-on-houston-nyc_b_3538110?utm_hp_ref=arts |access-date=4 June 2024 |work=The Huffington Post |date=3 July 2013}}

Martin died of a heart attack on June 17, 2009, in Spring Hill, Florida.{{Cite web |date=2009-06-23 |title=Iz the Wiz |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/culture-obituaries/art-obituaries/5614060/Iz-the-Wiz.html |access-date=2023-12-18 |website=The Telegraph |language=en}}{{cite news |last1=Grimes |first1=William |title=Michael Martin, Subway Graffiti Artist Iz the Wiz, Is Dead at 50 |work=The New York Times |date=29 June 2009 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/29/arts/design/29martin.html |accessdate=19 November 2018 |agency=New York Times}}

{{Reflist}}

{{commons}}

• [http://www.izthewiz.com/ Official Website]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070927013611/http://www.robotswillkill.com/graffiti/showgraff.php?artist_id=197&PHPSESSID=d33ab0ca85f93c330bdb051e90e77b98%2F Early Graffiti by Iz]
• [http://www.at149st.com/iz2.html Interview with Iz]

{{Street_Art}}

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Category:1958 births

Category:2009 deaths

Category:Artists from Queens, New York

Category:American graffiti artists

Category:20th-century American painters

Category:American male painters

Category:20th-century American male artists

Category:Graffiti in New York City