Very few are in Jose “Prime” Reza’s position regarding influence on the history of LA graffiti. His battle piece representing K2S crew against WCA crew in 1985 is arguably the single most influential piece in the establishment of LA style: the relatively small graffiti community was watching closely, and many were blown away by a style they had never seen before, synthesizing the New York thing with L.A.’s own Cholo influence and spinning it in a way personally his. Humble, he points to Defer for bringing in the Cholo block letter influence and crew founder Rick One for his sense of visual flow.
The influence of coming up in a harsh gang environment was central to the development of Prime’s art. He is part of that first generation in L.A. (the true birth place of the placa) that had authentic gang writing skills but then allowed the influence of modern graffiti to bring in a kind of creativity that didn’t previously exist, where the letters still had attitude but with new forms and a placement that didn’t necessarily stay on the traditional grid of gang writing. He has been an inspiration to a following generation of street style calligraphers.
What Prime does, though, is not just a matter of style and skill. It’s something that comes from the gut and the heart. When he wasn’t sure if he was going to survive problems stemming from an injury in the mid ‘80s, he went to Belmont Tunnel to paint his concerns on the walls. When someone creates something thoughtful and personal with visual expression, that’s true art.
Prime is part of a new generation that includes Defer and Big Sleeps taking their particular street styles into commissioned work and the gallery. His developing canvas work combines the raw-yet-sophisticated aspects of graffiti with an underlying sense of composition. He is someone that any aficionado of letters and art will want to follow