The end of the 70's brought about Reaganomics, the Space Shuttle, and the beginning of the end for NY Style Graffiti. Considered to be at it's height in both destructive notoriety and artistic genius, graffiti entered the 80's with a bang but ultimately would leave with a whimper. Images from mass media, pop culture, and from their own imaginations began to emerge onto the subway lines.
Artists also convey ideas in their works.
Graffiti was no different. This was the REAL graffiti. The mass cleansing of subway lines in the 80's, coined the buff , would eventually wipe out most of the subway graffiti for good and other than scarce photographs and fading memories, the NY Style Graffiti would cease to exist. Lee's 1980 epitaph at the lay-up yards of the 180st Street Station in the Bronx. Today, we see graffiti images sprayed across album covers, video games, and now has reached beyond the realm of the real world into cyberspace.