Arrows don't make style.
Complexity don't make style.
It's like make 
a building that can't  stand if can't built soundly... it's useless.

— P.H.A.S.E. 2

P.H.A.S.E. 2 began writing his name in 1971, inspired by Lee163d!, captivated by the possibility of expressing his "identity" while remaining anonymous.

By late 1972, he conceived the initial version of the "bubble letters" or "softie," a writing style that would have a tremendous impact on the emerging writing movement. These letters, created by Phase 2, were soon imitated by other writers, who added their own variations. Phase 2 himself continued to develop them, introducing arrows and connecting bars between letters. He fused and merged the letters of his name, making them transparent, transforming them into stars or faces—innovations that became part of style writing.

Whenever one of his innovations became commonplace, Phase 2 would abandon it for something new, a quest that over time led him to an increasingly complex style. Techno symbolism, alien machine, pyroglyph, hyperglyph—these are just a few of the names used to describe his constant evolution. Deconstructed letters transformed into rigid lines, the presence of third eyes, horns, spikes, references to Egyptian pharaohs, and pure geometry blend into ornamental labyrinths that conceal a new "language," unknown and seemingly detached from the traditional alphabet, designed to be seen, not heard.

 

70s

70s_1
70s_3
70s_2
70s_13
70_6
70s_5
70s_4
70s_7
70s_12
70s_8
70s_9
70s_10
7oz_11
70s_17
70s_!5
70s_14
70s_16
70s_19
70s_aca
70s_20
70s
70s_21
70s_22
70s_23
70s_24
70s_25
70s_26
70s_27
70s_28
70s_29
70s_30
70s_31
70s_32
70s_34
70s_35
70s_37
70s_38
70s_42
70s_39
70s_45
70s_46
70s_47
70s_48
70s_50
70s_51
70s_52
70s_53
70s_41
442994173_1129861448317712_6528359822412572099_n
70s_55
70s_54
70s_56
70s_57
70s_58
70s_55 3
70s_55 2

80s

80s_03
Opera senza titolo
80s_hager
80s_05 2 2
80s_07
80s_04
80s_00
80s_01
80s_02
80s_08
80s_05
80s_05 2
80s_10
80s_06
80s_09
80s_14
80s_15
80s_12
80s_13
80s_11
80s_17_1
1984_vienna_08
1984_vienna_10
80s_19
80s_18

1986 — Rap Graffiti Rap
(Vienna)

For the project titled “Rap Graffiti Rap”, the New York writers Phase 2, Delta2, Ero and Rammellzee were invited,
who were guest artists ineesidence at the Vienna gallery Insam from June 19 to July 3, 1984.
Phase 2 and Delta 2 officially painted a line j tram. His was probably the first large-scale - albeit permitted - painting
of a public transport vehicle with writing in Austria.

— Photos and text from the book "Wien Graffiti 1984/1999".

1984_vienna_01
1984_vienna_02
1984_vienna_04
1984_vienna_03
1984_vienna_05
1984_vienna_06
1984_vienna_07
— In the summer of 1984 we visited Vienna where Phase 2 exhibited his works in the gallery of Grita Insam (1939-2012) in the Köllnerhofgasse. We bought a large drawing there and Brendan received a drawing from Phase 2 that he made on site. That drawing says a lot about what Phase 2 was doing. (From Privè Domein)

1986 — Artrain Museum 
(Ann Arbor, Michigan)

1986_Artrain_michigan_HChalfant

— Photo: H. Chalfant

1988 — Throwdown Under Tour 
(Australia)

“Public acceptance - that’s a joke. You know it’s a joke.”
Phase 2 on The Age. (8 july 1988)

Phase 2 and Daze were part of the Throwdown Under Tour alongside Velore and Double-O to tour Australia.
Together, they became the first Hip Hop artists from the United States to tour Australia.

1984_vienna_04
1984_vienna_02
1988_australia_01
1984_vienna_03
1984_vienna_05
— Melbourne, 1988.

90s 

— New York, 1990.
— New York, 1990.
— Reed College. Oregon, 1991.
— Reed College. Oregon, 1991.
— Amsterdam, 1992.
— Amsterdam, 1992.
— University of Virginia, 1993.
— University of Virginia, 1993.
— New Haven (Connecticut), 1994.
— New Haven (Connecticut), 1994.
— Crystal Palace, South London, 1994.
— Crystal Palace, South London, 1994.
— Under Pressure Jam. Livingston (Scotland), 1994.
— Under Pressure Jam. Livingston (Scotland), 1994.
1984_vienna_11
1984_vienna_12
1984_vienna_14
1984_vienna_18
1984_vienna_17
1984_vienna_16
1984_vienna_19
murder
1984_vienna_20

 '00s 

— Bridgeport, Conneticut. 2007
— Bridgeport, Conneticut. 2007
connecticut
connecticut
— Connecticut.
— Connecticut.
— Planet Soccer. Minneapolis.
— Planet Soccer. Minneapolis, 2008.
wynwood_2010
— Wynwood, 2010.
— Tribute to Richard Lee Sisco Jr. Miami, 2011.
— Tribute to Richard Lee Sisco Jr. Miami, 2011.

Sketches — '00s 

00s_04
Uend1-outline-by-P2-2006
00s_06
00s_05
00s_03
dice
00s_07
00s_15
00s_12
00s_10a
EKLAT-outline-by-P2-’06
00s_11
00s_16
00s_08
00s_18
00s_19
00s_26
00s_25
00s_17
00s_21
00s_29a
00s_28
00s_22
00s_24
00s_27
00s_30
00s_43
00s_44
expansion_NY
00s_31
00s_45
00s_46

*All photos in the following sections have been sourced from public internet sources. Therefore, copyright and intellectual property rights remain with the respective photographers and rights holders. If you are the photographer or rights holder of any of the images here and would like to request credit or have the image removed from the gallery, please contact us,

©2024. All rights reserved — See you in NeoTokyo!

⚠ — All photographs in the following sections have been sourced from public internet sources. Therefore, copyright and intellectual property rights remain with the respective photographers and rights holders. If you are the photographer or rights holder of any of the images here and would like to request credit or have the image removed from the gallery, please contact us,

 — Get Preorder Updates