KEL1ST, born Randy Rodriguez, USA, born 1963

KEL139 ? KEL1ST, born Randy Rodriguez 1963, New York SA, photo print on linnen, signed after Kel1st, 28x43cm. A native New Yorker emerged as one of the best masters of wild style lettering in the graffiti revolution of the 1970s. The signature style of KEL1ST masterpieces were graphi- cally the boldest with an unlikely color palette compared to his peers. His large scale lettering covered the entire sides of the subway cars and were enhanced with very stylized ren- ditions of caricatures. Kel is one of the few masters who was able to cross racial boundaries and team up with some of the most talented artist of the culture; DONDI, DURO, SHY 147, COS 207, CRASH, MIN, NOC 167, FUTURA, SEEN, BUTCH II, CASE II and others. His collaborations with such a wide variety of artists gave the New York MTA a rolling art gallery that museums and galleries envied. He was a central figure for graffiti at the entrance to the art world when OK Harris gallery first exhibited Henry Chalfant?s collection