Part One- "Stayhigh 149" Acrylic, Paint marker on NYC Transit map. Measures 23x32.
Gordon Wayne Roberts created the tag Stay High 149, combined it with a smoking, halo-adorned stick man he borrowed from The Saint television show and changed the face of graffiti. It's hard to imagine a trip through the subway system in early 70's without seeing his name a dozen times. Changing to his secondary alias, voice of the ghetto, around 1974 , ,he introduced the world to two and three toned markers that spewed rainbows of psychedelic cool. After a 25 year disappearance , a time during which many assumed him dead, he reappeared at a graff show in 2000 and soon launched a comeback that gave a new generation a chance to know and love his work. His tags had the rarest combination of style and meaning I've ever witnessed . High Maintenance is about paying back one of the most inspirational , yet humble cats to ever wield a marker. His spirit and legacy has touched every era of a culture that's blown up world wide. The artists who so generously donated their work for this benefit are giving their collective thanks to a man who transcended graffiti culture and in time be remembered as an American Folk Hero. All net proceeds from this sale will go to Stayhigh's Family.
PART ONE is a veteran of the golden years of New York City subway painting and considered a style master in the graffiti world specializing in his own brand of lettering which he started to develop in 1974. From 1974 – 1985 he was one of the most accomplished artists on the New York City subway trains, in 1985 he took a brief hiatus from painting only to return in 1990 as a leading figure in the re-emergence of wild style pieces in murals in Harlem. His art has been featured in the classic film Style Wars as well as the critically acclaimed book, Martha Cooper's Hip Hop Files, and most recently the books, Burning New York, and Graffiti Planet. PART is active today painting both on canvas and on walls around the world. He was most recently the featured artist at Kosmopolite, the international graffiti event, in Paris in 2006.
