Sydney graffiti has a rich history and there are pioneers who brought style and finesse to the culture from day one. Purveyors of New York style graffiti made Sydney a place of raw expression and made an impact over decades. One writer of great note was Bez. For me starting later in the scene Bez was a Sydney graffiti god. He had everything a writer would want. He had his name up, he had unbeatable style and really he was a foundation stone of Sydney style that owed everything to the New York masters and the grimey streets of inner city Sydney.

He was always there, even when he had technically stopped his name was still getting up. He had sly tags in unexpected spots, seeing Bez up was a fact of life in Sydney. If you were in the game you saw Bez, he was there when it all started and hung on way into the late 90s. Very few matched Bez, it was all style and show in his heyday but eventually his street presence was haunting and resilient. The showmanship was gone in the 90s but there he was still present on the streets. If anyone had street credibility it was Bez. He was an inner city street walker and survivor.

In a lot of ways, Bez was the template for the dedicated urban writer in Sydney. Graffiti for him was a part of life, a way to stay relevant and seen when life is weighing on you. His tags eventually were burned into memory. In some ways I felt like things were ok if I kept seeing those tags of his turn up on my daily ventures. It is a true loss to hear of his passing. He was a very important figure who many looked up to and admired. He was a first generation writer in Sydney who is irreplaceable and his game one of the realest.