TOXIC and New York Subway Graffiti: Inside the Culture That Shaped His Art
Cover photo © Courtesy of Torrick 'Toxic' Ablack
What It Was Like to Paint Trains During New York Graffiti’s Formative Years
For many people, New York subway graffiti exists only in photographs. Brightly painted trains, bold lettering and names that have since become legendary are often treated as symbols of a movement that disappeared decades ago. But for the writers who lived through it, graffiti wasn’t simply about painting trains.
It was a way of learning the city. It was a community. It was competition. It was friendship. It was constant experimentation.
Few artists can speak about that period from first-hand experience. TOXIC can. Growing up in the Bronx during the late 1970s, Torrick “TOXIC” Ablack belonged to the generation that witnessed graffiti develop from neighbourhood writing into an internationally recognised visual culture.
Drawing on our recent interview with TOXIC, this article explores what New York’s subway graffiti movement looked like from the inside, and how those experiences continue to shape his work today.
New York Before Graffiti Reached the Galleries
When people think about graffiti today, they often picture murals, gallery exhibitions or commissioned public art. That wasn’t the world TOXIC entered. In the Bronx of the late 1970s, graffiti existed alongside the rhythms of everyday city life.
Subway trains carried writers’ names across New York. Walls became places to experiment with new ideas. Teenagers developed identities through lettering long before anyone imagined graffiti entering museums or private collections.
At the same time, New York’s creative landscape was changing rapidly. Graffiti developed alongside the emerging cultures of DJing, MCing and breaking, with artists, parties and neighbourhood networks frequently overlapping. For TOXIC and many others, these weren’t separate worlds. They were simply part of growing up in New York.
👉 If you’re new to TOXIC, start with our guide: Who Is TOXIC? From Bronx Graffiti Writer to Contemporary Artist.
Discovering Graffiti
TOXIC’s introduction to graffiti wasn’t a single defining moment. It happened gradually. In our interview, he describes growing up surrounded by creativity long before he painted his first piece.
His older brother drew constantly. Paint used to decorate gang jackets introduced him to colour and materials. Music filled the family home, from Caribbean records to Motown, soul and funk. Then graffiti began appearing everywhere.
As TOXIC remembers:
“Every day it was everywhere… when I started paying attention to graffiti, it just opened a whole new bag of tricks.”
As he began paying closer attention, graffiti opened up a new world of visual possibilities. The city itself became a constantly changing sketchbook. Every train introduced new ideas. Every journey revealed different styles. Every writer approached letters differently.
Learning the System
Graffiti wasn’t something anyone mastered overnight. Respect had to be earned. TOXIC describes travelling across New York, meeting writers from different neighbourhoods and gradually becoming part of the culture through persistence, curiosity and continual improvement.
The subway system connected everything. It wasn’t simply transport. It became a network linking artists across the city. One of those meeting places was the famous bench on 149th Street. Here, writers exchanged stories, planned painting missions, discussed new styles and built relationships that often lasted for decades.
Competition was part of the culture. So was criticism. One story from our interview captures that perfectly. While painting alongside Bear 167, TOXIC remembers having part of his work painted over. Bear looked at him and simply said:
“Start all over again.”
Instead of arguing, TOXIC started again. Looking back, he laughs about the experience.
“I got better real quick.”
Those moments reveal something important about early graffiti culture. Much of that progress happened outside formal education, through observation, criticism, experimentation and shared experience. It happened through observation, criticism, experimentation and shared experience.
More Than Competition: A Community of Writers
Graffiti history often focuses on individual legends. TOXIC remembers something slightly different. He remembers community. Throughout our interview, he recalls meeting, learning from, painting alongside or building friendships with artists including:
- A-One
- Bear 167
- Kel 139
- Zephyr
- Dondi
- Futura
- Knock
- Pho
Each contributed something different. Some encouraged experimentation. Some challenged younger writers to improve. Others simply demonstrated what commitment looked like.
Knowledge moved constantly between writers. Techniques spread. Ideas evolved. Styles changed. Rather than existing as isolated artists, writers formed an interconnected creative network that continually pushed one another to develop.
Beyond the Trains
As New York’s subway-writing era declined, writers followed different paths. For TOXIC, it marked a transition rather than an ending. Rather than leaving painting behind, he continued developing his work in the studio.
Over time, his paintings became increasingly abstract while remaining informed by the movement, rhythm and visual thinking that first emerged through graffiti.
Importantly, TOXIC distinguishes between graffiti and painting. In our interview, he reflects on how creating paintings involves a different way of thinking, even when those works are informed by decades of experience as a writer.
That distinction has shaped his practice ever since. His paintings are not attempts to recreate subway graffiti. They are the result of decades spent exploring painting as its own discipline while remaining connected to the experiences that first inspired him as a writer.
👉 Explore this further in The Art of TOXIC: Understanding His Paintings & Visual Language. (Coming soon.)
Meeting Rammellzee
Among the many relationships TOXIC formed during this period, one became particularly significant. Introduced through A-One, TOXIC visited Rammellzee, whose work immediately stood apart.
Their conversations quickly moved beyond graffiti into mathematics, science, religion, art and wider questions about how the world worked. TOXIC recalls studying Rammellzee’s drawings, discussing ideas and later joining Tag Master Killers (TMK).
He also witnessed the early development of what became known as the Battle Station. When Rammellzee moved into the Battle Station, TOXIC moved into Rammellzee’s former apartment. He remembers helping clear the space, walking Canal Street with Rammellzee to collect discarded materials and carrying them back as the environment gradually evolved into the Battle Station.
Those memories provide a rare firsthand perspective on the early development of Rammellzee’s Battle Station.
👉 Discover more in TOXIC & Rammellzee: Friendship, Collaboration & Creative Influence. (Coming soon.)
👉 If you’re new to Rammellzee, our guide Who Was Rammellzee? The Artist, Graffiti Writer, Musician & Visionary Explained offers the perfect introduction to his life and work.
Why the Subway Movement Still Matters
More than forty years later, the influence of New York subway graffiti reaches far beyond trains. Its visual language has moved far beyond subway trains and is now discussed and exhibited within contemporary art, design, street-art and museum contexts.
For TOXIC, however, its importance is also deeply personal. It was where he learned to draw. Where he learned discipline. Where he met artists who shaped his thinking. And where he developed a way of looking at the world that continues to inform his work today.
That lived experience is one of the reasons his perspective remains so valuable.
Continuing the Story: TOXIC x The Rammellzee — Geo Metrodome
More than four decades after first meeting Rammellzee, TOXIC continues to reflect on the friendships and artistic ideas that emerged from New York’s graffiti movement.
That history forms the basis of TOXIC x The Rammellzee: Geo Metrodome, created by 12on12 in partnership with The Rammellzee Estate. Built around Rammellzee’s Geo Metrodome, the edition is limited to 20 prints and four artist’s proofs.
Every print is individually hand-finished by TOXIC using spray paint, marker, TMK-era tags and his own signature tag, ensuring that no two editions are exactly alike. Each work is hand-signed by TOXIC, posthumously signed by Rammellzee and supplied with a Certificate of Authenticity.
Rather than viewing Rammellzee’s work through exhibitions or archives alone, TOXIC brings the perspective of someone who knew him personally and witnessed the early development of the Battle Station.
That personal connection makes the collaboration far more than a reinterpretation of an historic artwork. It becomes a continuation of a creative dialogue that began in New York more than forty years ago.
👉 Explore TOXIC x The Rammellzee: Geo Metrodome
Frequently Asked Questions
Did TOXIC paint New York subway trains?
Yes. TOXIC began writing graffiti as a teenager during the late 1970s and was part of New York’s subway graffiti movement.
Why did graffiti writers paint trains?
Subway trains carried writers’ names throughout New York, allowing their work to be seen across the city while providing opportunities to develop and compare styles.
Who did TOXIC paint with?
In our interview, TOXIC recalls meeting, learning from, painting alongside or building friendships with artists including A-One, Bear 167, Kel 139, Zephyr, Dondi, Futura, Knock and Pho.
Was TOXIC part of TMK?
Yes. After meeting Rammellzee through A-One, TOXIC joined Tag Master Killers (TMK) and became part of the wider creative circle surrounding Rammellzee.
Why is TOXIC important today?
Alongside his continuing painting practice, TOXIC offers a rare firsthand perspective on New York’s graffiti movement, making both his work and his memories increasingly valuable to artists, historians and collectors.
Continue Exploring
If you’d like to explore more of New York graffiti history and the artists who shaped it, continue with:
👉 Who Is TOXIC? From Bronx Graffiti Writer to Contemporary Artist
👉 TOXIC & Rammellzee: Friendship, Collaboration & Creative Influence (coming soon)
👉 The Art of TOXIC: Understanding His Paintings & Visual Language (coming soon)
👉 Who Was Rammellzee? The Artist, Graffiti Writer, Musician & Visionary Explained
👉 What Are Gothic Futurism & Ikonoklast Panzerism?
👉 How Rammellzee Influenced Hip Hop, Graffiti, Contemporary Art & Street Culture
Final Thoughts
The story of New York subway graffiti is often told through photographs of painted trains and the names that became legendary. TOXIC’s memories remind us that the movement was built just as much through people as through paint.
It was a culture of learning, criticism, collaboration and constant experimentation, where writers challenged one another to improve and friendships developed alongside fierce creative competition.
More than forty years later, TOXIC continues to carry those experiences into his painting practice. His work reflects not only the visual language of graffiti, but also the curiosity, discipline and community that defined its formative years.
For anyone seeking to understand what New York subway graffiti was really like from the inside, TOXIC’s story offers a valuable firsthand perspective from someone who experienced the movement from within.
