TAKI 183

In the summer of 1970, TAKI 183 worked as a messenger, which took him well beyond his neighborhood. Pocketing the taxi fare provided by his employer, he walked to his delivery destinations instead, writing along the way, making him the first graffiti writer to go “all-city.”

TAKI 183 is a typical name configuration for Manhattan-based wall writers. TAKI is short for the nickname “Demetaki” — a common Greek diminutive of his birth name, Demetrius — while 183 signified 183rd Street, where he lived.

BEYOND THE STREETS New York, 2019. Photo by Dan Bradica.