The man who pioneered graffiti art in the early 1970s, RAMMELLZEE, died Tuesday at age 50. He spent his last days in Far Rockaway, Queens -- the same neighborhood where he got his start painting subway cars.
Graffiti is a key element in hip-hop culture, and RAMMELLZEE made waves in both art forms. His oblique freestyling and rhymes were a testament to his abstract subway murals and graffiti .
The wild, street-art stalwart never stopped producing work throughout his life. On top of graffiti sculptures, performance art, and transformer-esque, futuristic masks, costumes, and models, RAMMELLZEE developed the doctrine of "Gothic Futurism" which guided his creative endeavors.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. 9(MDYwMzgxODUyMDE2MzQ1Nzg1MTRlNTA2Yg000))