Al Diaz (born June 10, 1959) is an American urban artist and lecturer best known for being among the first generation of graffiti writers in the community and for co-creating the graffiti campaign SAMO© with Jean-Michel Basquiat in 1978.

May 1, 2020 · Underground artist surfaces a generation later Al Diaz, co-founder with Jean-Michel Basquiat of SAMO©, is producing new art and looking […] Art Collaborations NYC SAMO© Subways Wet Paint Green Label Article

SAMO is a graffiti tag originally used on the streets of New York City from 1978 to 1980. The tag, written with a copyright symbol as "SAMO©", and pronounced Same-Oh, is primarily associated with the artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, but was originally developed as a collaboration between Basquiat and Al Diaz.

Al Díaz’s career spans five decades. Born and raised Puerto Rican in New York City, he was known by age 15 as a prolific and influential, first-generation subway graffiti artist. During the early 70s, his popular and recognized name was “BOMB-1.”

May 1, 2020 · Underground artist surfaces a generation later Al Diaz, co-founder with Jean-Michel Basquiat of SAMO©, is producing new art and looking […] Art Collaborations NYC SAMO© Subways Wet Paint Green Label Article

Sep 6, 2017 · New York artist and Jean-Michel Basquiat’s teenage collaborator, Al Diaz, speaks on how they got their start in the city’s art scene – through a series of cryptic messages that they signed off as SAMO©

A prolific NYC subway writer turned text-oriented street artist, Al Diaz is best known for his collaboration with Jean-Michel Basquiat on SAMO©, graffiti that appeared in Lower Manhattan from 1977 to 1979.

Born and raised Puerto Rican in New York City, Al Díaz (b. 1959) was known by age 15 as a prolific and influential, first-generation subway graffiti artist. During the early 70s, his popular and recognized name was “BOMB-1.”

Al Diaz is a New York-based urban artist and lecturer best known for being among the first generation of graffiti writers in the community and for co-creating the graffiti campaign SAMO© with Jean-Michel Basquiat in 1978.

A prolific and influential first-generation NYC subway graffiti artist, who later became a text-oriented street artist, Al Diaz’s career spans 5 decades. He currently works with WET PAINT signs used throughout the New York City subway system.