Monday Memories - Dondi White

For more than 20 years in New York City, graffiti culture was as pervasive as it was secretive. Scores of underground artists worked in the shadows to create illicit and unconventional masterpieces-colorful and graphic paintings made with aerosol spray paint on New York City subway lines. Graffiti writer Dondi White came up in the 1970s, plastering his name and many aliases on dozens of subway trains. His work and personality stood out in the culture, and he became a star among graffiti writers. As New York’s Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) eradicated graffiti writing from its trains, White became one of many graffitists who began to work aboveground. Graffiti-based art was at the heart of New York’s art scene in the 1980s. White put his work on canvas and exhibited it in art galleries. He was the first graffiti artist to have a one-man show in the Netherlands and Germany, and his work is collected by European museums. After his death in 1998, White’s brother Michael, and graffiti writer Andrew “Zephyr” Witten, collaborated on the book Dondi White: Style Master General, The Life of Graffiti Artist Dondi White, Regan Books 2001. Dondi also did a lot of the graffiti for the main character Zoro, in the movie Wildstyle.
Dondi White Memorial