Seen (1961) – TAG in Purple

Seen, (whose real name is Richard Mirando), was born in 1961 in the Bronx where he grew up and still lives today. He was a precocious artist. He gets his first spray paint can at the age of 11. Two years later, he was making decorative painting for his uncle, the owner of a car garage. This is when he customises his first cars.The graffiti movement was at the time in full force. Richard was fascinated by the painted metro trains in the Lexington Avenue depot and on line 6, just behind his uncle's garage. He goes to the depot on a Saturday afternoon in 1973 and makes his first "piece". He chooses the nickname "Seen". He likes the 2 "Es" and the meaning fits his art. Making graffiti becomes for him the means to realise his desire to be seen by the most people possible.His first painting is a revelation. From a mere spectator, he became a player in the movement. The metro becomes his support. He works a lot and starts painting Whole cars which will mark the spirit of New York forever. His name and his art are carried throughout the city by the trains taken each... lees verder bij Catawiki