In 1977 White joined with fellow graffiti writers in the exclusive Brooklyn graffiti crew The Odd Partners, known as TOP. Dondi often cited senior TOP members, JEE 2, MICKEY, HURST, SLAVE, and NOC 167 as “major influences in his development as a graffiti artist,” fellow graffiti writer Zephyr wrote online at the Art Crimes Website. TOP evolved into White founding his own crew, Crazy Insides Artists, or CIA, in 1978. CIA continued where TOP left off, that is wreaking havoc on the BMT, or Brooklyn Manhattan Transit lines. White proved to be an able mentor to the young graffiti writers of CIA. He passed along his skills and helped them execute their pieces. Even though he was a member of a crew, White’s personality stood out from those of the other writers. While most writers go to great lengths to keep their identities a secret, White painted a giant “DONDI” piece on the roof of his home, in clear view of the Number Two train that passed by. As White’s work began to make it around Manhattan and the Bronx-considered “ground zero” for graffiti culture, according to Style Master General-veteran graffiti writers were taking notice of this talented up-and-comer. In addition to “DONDI,” White’s graffiti aliases included BUS 129, Mr. White, PRE, POSE, ROLL, 2 MANY, and ASIA.

Risky Documentation Set Dondi Apart
White’s artwork may have been the result of his personal methodical approach as much as it was because of his talent. He planned every aspect of a piece before painting it. He filled volumes of sketchbooks with highly detailed outlines and renditions of his work. He worked tirelessly to perfect his work before ever executing it.
Much of White’s work after 1979 is well documented, owing to his friendships with photographer Martha Cooper. A year before they met, Cooper had inadvertently snapped a piece of White’s work that appeared in the background of a New York Post cover she photographed. The two were an unorthodox pair; White, as with his rooftop piece, was defying the secrecy normally involved with graffiti by exposing his life and work to a media-savvy photographer. Cooper captured White’s “Children of the Grave” trains, which “are considered among the most famous and iconic ever painted by any writer: in New York, according to Style Master General. Her photos of his work appear in the seminal book Subway Art, which was published in 1984. The book documented the life and art of the graffiti writers, but was also controversial. While important to the history of graffiti, it also risked exposing the secret world of its subjects.
White recreated “Children of the Grave” legally in 1986, when he was commissioned by the Art Train project. Twelve graffiti writers were flown into an Amtrak train yard in Michigan to paint trains. In 1980 art patron Sam Esses funded a project called “Esses Studio” to take the art that was happening on the streets into the art studio. Esses was appalled that the MTA’s sole policy in regards to graffiti was to remove it. The “Graffiti 1980 Studio” did much to bolster graffiti writers’ solidarity. In the studio, writers came together and formed new bonds, and a tighter-knit culture among writers in the 1980s resulted.