Pioneering New York graffiti writer Al Diaz, SAMO© co-creator with Jean-Michel Basquiat, is bringing his debut UK show, SAMO: TRANSATLANTICATION, to London. Hosted at D’Stassi Art on Hoxton Street in Shoreditch, the exhibition opens on Friday, September 25, 2026.

The show connects the late-1970s origins of SAMO© with Diaz’s current artistic focus on misinformation and political fracture, featuring new SAMO© works on canvas, created with spray paint, acrylic, and art pen, which offer pointed commentary on contemporary America.

A collection of pieces utilizes New York subway signage, a practice Diaz has cultivated for over 16 years by rearranging the system’s Helvetica lettering and colored circular “bullets” into new messages and anagrams.

He will also present a new mural and a series of public interventions that Diaz will create on the streets of Shoreditch during his visit from Brooklyn.

After meeting at City-As-School in 1976, teenage collaborators Al Diaz and Jean-Michel Basquiat conceived SAMO© not as a conventional tag, but as an “imaginary product” engineered for mass communication. While often mischaracterized today as a solo Basquiat alias or shorthand for “Same Old Shit,” the project was deliberately executed in bold, clear lettering to interrupt the daily routines of ordinary passersby, engaging everyone from parents to working commuters.

The arrival of Diaz’s work in London opens during a wave of renewed international interest in Basquiat’s early life, largely sparked by Julius Onah’s forthcoming feature film Samo Lives.

The biopic, which is produced and financed by Fifth Season and Macro Film Studios, stars Danny Ramirez as Diaz and Kelvin Harrison Jr. in the role of Jean-Michel Basquiat. Among the cast are Dane DeHaan, Kathryn Newton, Lukas Gage, Chase Sui Wonders, and Antony Starr, who will step into the role of iconic pop artist Andy Warhol. The cast also includes Jeffrey Wright, who famously portrayed the artist in Julian Schnabel’s 1996 film Basquiat.

Directed and written by Julius Onah (Luce, Captain America: Brave New World), Samo Lives examines Basquiat’s rapid rise in NYC’s art scene, capturing the vibrant, groundbreaking spirit of his neo-expressionist work as he navigates his identity and legacy.

While Samo Lives will center on Basquiat’s meteoric rise and tragic end, the “SAMO: TRANSATLANTICATION” exhibition gives audiences a rare opportunity to hear the history of SAMO© directly from its co-creator. D’Stassi Art co-founders Michael Howes and Edward Sanders expressed their enthusiasm for the upcoming show, noting that Diaz’s “use of language, observation and poetry feels as relevant now as ever” and that the pieces crafted for this debut rank among the strongest works he has ever produced.