Cool "Disco" Dan

Cool "Disco" Dan died on July 26, 2017, due to complications from diabetes.

As he had been writing his tag for so long his work is now part of the landscape of Washington, as attested by mentions of him in George P. Pelecanos' novel Shame the Devil as a "D.C. legend" and in Dinaw Mengestu's novel The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears and in lyrics by Giant Robot and experimental pop act Golden Birds. Works of his have been acquired and exhibited by the Corcoran Gallery of Art. His tag appears briefly in the 1996 motion picture Mars Attacks. His graffiti can also be seen for a moment in The Frighteners.

Cool "Disco" Dan began spraying his tag in 1984. Part of the Go-Go scene of the 80's in Washington, he managed to avoid being jailed or killed, unlike many of his contemporaries, by devoting himself solely to graffiti rather than involving his art with drugs or gangs. The pervasiveness of his mark was reported frequently in the local press.

Cool "Disco" Dan (December 31, 1969 – July 26, 2017) was the pseudonym of American graffiti artist Dan Hogg. His standard mark, a particularly styled rendering of his name, has proliferated in the Washington metropolitan area, notably on surfaces along the route of the Washington Metro Red Line.

Dan was born in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1969. His mother and father moved the family to Annandale, Virginia when Dan was still a young boy. While he was growing up, Dan was teased for being short – neighborhood children called him "Disco Danny," inspired by a character from the TV show What's Happening!! . Difficulties with socializing and a lifelong struggle with mental illness both contributed to his isolation from the drug scene and gang wars that were prevalent in DC in the 1980s and 90's.