AL DIAZ
SAMO : TRANSATLANTICATION
THE UK DEBUT EXHIBITION
25 SEPTEMBER 2026
D’STASSI ART, LONDON
This September, D’Stassi Art presents SAMO : TRANSATLANTICATION, the UK debut exhibition of pioneering New York artist and SAMO© co-creator Al Diaz.
Opening in London on 25 September 2026, the exhibition brings one of the most important voices to emerge from New York's downtown art and graffiti culture to the UK for his first exhibition of its kind.
RSVP FOR THE OPENING
Join us at D’Stassi Art in Shoreditch for the opening of SAMO : TRANSATLANTICATION on 25 September 2026, from 6PM until late.
Places for the opening are limited and advance registration is recommended.
ABOUT THE EXHIBITION
Al Diaz occupies a unique position in the history of New York art.
Growing up on the Lower East Side, Diaz became an important figure within New York's early graffiti movement before developing SAMO© with his friend and creative collaborator Jean-Michel Basquiat in the late 1970s.
Rather than conventional graffiti writing, SAMO appeared across downtown Manhattan as fragments of language, observations and cryptic statements. The work transformed the streets into a platform for ideas, using language itself as an artistic medium.
Nearly five decades later, Diaz continues to explore the relationship between language, authorship, public space and contemporary culture.
SAMO : TRANSATLANTICATION brings that practice to London.
Created for D’Stassi Art, the exhibition will present a new body of original work spanning Diaz's distinctive text-based practice, collage, stencil works and pieces that draw upon the visual language of New York's subway system.
The exhibition looks both backwards and forwards. It acknowledges Diaz's extraordinary place within the history of downtown New York while presenting him firmly as a living, evolving contemporary artist.
FROM NEW YORK TO LONDON
The title TRANSATLANTICATION reflects the movement of Diaz's language, ideas and practice across the Atlantic for this landmark London presentation.
The exhibition also creates a dialogue between two cities whose street cultures have continually influenced one another: New York and London.
Diaz will travel from New York to London for the exhibition, with a wider programme of activity surrounding the opening.
ABOUT AL DIAZ
Al Diaz is a New York artist, writer and cultural figure whose practice has developed across more than five decades.
He was a formative participant in New York's early graffiti culture and, alongside Jean-Michel Basquiat, co-created SAMO©, the conceptual graffiti project that began appearing throughout Lower Manhattan in the late 1970s.
His subsequent work has continued to investigate language and the urban environment through text, found materials, collage, signage and interventions in public space.
Diaz's work connects the history of graffiti and downtown New York with conceptual art, poetry, social commentary and contemporary visual culture.
SAMO : TRANSATLANTICATION marks his UK debut exhibition at D’Stassi Art.
EXHIBITION DETAILS
AL DIAZ
SAMO : TRANSATLANTICATION
THE UK DEBUT EXHIBITION
Opening: 25 September 2026
6PM until late
D’Stassi Art
Shoreditch, London
For collector previews, artwork enquiries and further information, please contact D’Stassi Art.