Norm “Nomzee” Maxwell was a visual artist whose education came via the streets (Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Los Angeles) and the Hussian School Of Art. His combination of urban upbringing and fine art training resulted stylistically in an esoteric combination of color, light, and subject matter. Culturally, Maxwell was a quintessential urban contemporary artist, with a portfolio that included graffiti, street wear design, club flyer and album art, graphic design, set design, and fine art painting.

Born in Philadelphia, PA on January 25, 1969, Maxwell was fully susceptible to and influenced by street life, finding his expression in writing graffiti in the 1980s as “Ice”. Mentors and peers encouraged him to pursue an art degree, and his career began in Los Angeles’ Skid Row in the early 1990s alongside urban art visionary Doze Green and Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Clarence Williams.

Like many burgeoning urban artists, Maxwell survived and flourished in San Francisco, then back to LA, by taking on a plethora of art and design jobs, including art directing multiple big-budget music videos under Hype Williams. In 2007, he focused his energy back to fine art and opened Norm Maxwell Studio Gallery, which spanned six years and three locations. Maxwell garnered commissions from patrons in Los Angeles, Paris, Seoul, Berlin, and Dubai.

Maxwell was a prolific artist whose skills and subject matter spanned the extremes of painting. From acrylic spray to oil brush, street life to ancient myth, and urban strife to family life, Maxwell addressed both the evil and beauty of humanity -- a duality that he personally struggled with during his short and magnificent life. He is survived by his wife and two children.