Lee Quinones is considereed the single most influential artist to emerge from the New York City subway art movement. He is a celebrated figure in both the contemporary art world and in popular culture circles, faithfully producing work that is ripe with provocative socio-political content and intricate composition. Born in Ponce, Puerto Rico in 1960, Quinones was raised in New York's Lower East Side. Inspired by the leading figures of subway lore including Cliff 159 of the 3-Yard Boys and Blade One of the Crazy 5, Lee began creating whole 40-foot subway car murals in late 1975. By 1976, Lee was a shadowy legend, leaving his mark in a voracious whole subway car campaign strewn across the #5 IRT. Over the next decade he would paint an estimated 115 whole subway cars throughout the MTA system.