Background
Tracy 168 was born Michael Tracy in New York in 1958.
Tracy 168 was born Michael Tracy in New York in 1958.
Tracy 168 studied at the Institute of Higher Learning, better known as the Lexington I.R.T.
Tracy 168 started his career in the late 1960s when writing was in its infancy and continued through several generations. His drawing ability and unique sense of color and style set him apart from other writers of his time. Tracy did numerous whole cars with detailed illustrations helping to establish scenery whole cars as part of the culture. Eventually, Tracy 168 became bored by spray painting trains as he felt he had no competition. He turned to painting wall murals in 1978 and his first paid assignment was the side of French Charlys Bar on Webster Avenue in the Bronx.
Michael's murals quickly became recognized for their individuality because of his need to give back to the community. He would ask people for their ideas and he would plan his mural so that it would have some message of guidance. Tracy 168 feels his current work, which includes many cartoons, put people in a better frame of mind, and brings them to a better place. Many of his current pieces are commissioned by businesses who want to appeal to the locals and they have found his new approach to be vibrant, alive, colorful and playful.
Michael is one of the founding fathers of the art form; and created the Wildstyle style of graffiti. "Wildstyle" also refers to a crew he founded which has featured Chris Ellis, Lava I & II, Fernando Carlo Jr., Dan Rauch, and others. He is featured extensively in the documentary "Just to Get a Rep" where he discusses WiLD STYLE and the troubled relationship between graffiti and the established art world. In July 2006, an art piece by Tracy 168 in 1984 utilized a real subway car door and showcased his piece on it. Tracy was the mentor to many street and graffiti artists, including Keith Haring and SAMO.
Despite appearing in major gallery and museum shows, Tracy maintains a solid street presence with his classic Street Murals in Brooklyn and the Bronx, where he currently resides. Tracy 168 is famous for his tags of a drawing called "Purple Haze" which relates and serves as a tribute to Jimi Hendrix. The artwork was part of the Experience Music Project.
For Tracy 168, graffiti wasn't just rebellion or a gimmick to be heard in a society where you felt nobody really seemed to care - it meant creating something visual, with beautiful colors, to capture the city's audience in a medium never used before.
Tracy was always wild, always doing dangerous things.
Quotes from others about the person
Tracy offers an astounding variety of styles, from 3-D to space-age spiky to Cubistic. He floats out words on cushions of colors, and ties them up in unreadable knots, festooned with tendril-like flourishes.
