"AN EMPIRE IN DECLINE" BY AL DIAZ & JILLY BALLISTIC

Al Diaz aka Bomb 1’s career spans five decades. A prolific and influencial first generation NYC subway graffiti artist, who later became a text-orientated street artist. He co-founded the mythical art duo SAMO© with the iconic Jean-Michel Basquiat. The pair used the title, accompanied by short phrases, in turns poetic and sarcastic, spray painted on the streets of downtown Manhattan starting in 1977. 

Jilly Ballistic is the Patron Saint of the Underground; New York City's most well-known anonymous street and subway artist. She pastes historical images and modern protest work illegally, with no permission, in public spaces and site specific locations as social commentary.

"I was very impressed with her choice of imagery and felt it was a good match for my signage…I subsequently began to incorporate the use of the train letters and numbers printed on the MTA Service Change Alert posters, thus expanding my alphabet and opening doors to a world of possibilities. This was a huge step for me that instigated by working with Jilly B."

- Al Diaz, 2016

"Many, many moons ago I collaborated with the great Al Diaz (SAMO©) to create "AN EMPIRE IN DECLINE," a social commentary on the United States and politics. We installed the piece multiple times and once [here] in Union Square as documented by Yoav Litvin for his book '2Create: Art Collaborations in New York City,' Schiffer Publishing."

- Jilly Ballistic, 2017