Phase2 is the pseudonym of Michael Lawrence Marrow, who was born in New York in 1955 and passed away there in 2019.
Phase2 was one of the first generation graffiti writers and he ranks as a pioneer of the highly influential bubble style, characterised
by bold letters with rounded outlines, also known as softies. He was alsonan active member of the early New York hip hop scene, as a dancer,
rapper and designer of flyers for parties and concerts by artists such as Grandmaster Flash and Africa Bambaataa.

Despite his status as a hero to younger generations of street artits, Phase2 kept himself aloof from publicity. He remained suspicious towards
the mainstream media, museums and gallerys his entire life. Furthermore, he refused to use the word 'graffiti'because he deemed the term
stigmatising, imposed on the craft by journalists. He preferred to call it aerosol art or writing. The act of writing - one's own name or
pseudonym - and experimenting with letters was, after all, what this new art form was founded upon.

Phase2 started writing on subway trains when he was sixteen years old, 1971. He made a name for himself
with the constantly changing style of his letters. And as a true language virtuoso, he also came up with
the most remarkable names for each new version, such as squish luscious, bubble big top and phasemagorical
phantastic. From 1975 onwards, he worked on paper and canvas almost exclusively.