Arts preview: Let us spray, the gospel according to Seen
Edmund Lee
POST NO BILLS
Richard "Richie" Mirando asks me to keep quiet about one of his latest works - a cluster of bubble letters and a signature tag he daubed in a Central alley during his Hong Kong visit in mid-September - before he's safely out of the city. He may or may not be joking.
After all, the 52-year-old Bronx-born graffiti artist - who has attained cult-like status in New York - is so preoccupied about being spotted that he's best known by the sobriquet, Seen, as well as the rather more grand title of "Godfather of Graffiti".
"I'm getting old," says Mirando, who had the letters "SEEN" tattooed on the knuckles of his left hand - his writing hand - in the late 1980s. "I don't run as fast anymore, you know. They put you in jail today. It's a whole different ballgame. But once in a while I get a little bug [to paint on walls]."
If there is one thing that hasn't changed over the years, it is his fascination with American cartoons. A self-professed "product of television", Mirando found the instantly recognisable characters a natural subject when he started spray painting subway trains back in 1973. "I wanted the people on the train to know who did it," he says.
Apart from his street art endeavours, Mirando says he actually began painting on canvas as early as 1975. It is a medium that has gradually taken precedence in his practice over the past couple of decades.
Some of his latest stencil- and aerosol-on-canvas works can now be seen in a solo exhibition at Opera Gallery, which is cheekily titled "Post No Bills".
In a moment of introspection during our meeting, Mirando admits that he has no interest in painting any cartoon or superhero characters that came out after the '70s.
"I'm still lost in the '60s and '70s. I really appreciate the style of drawing from that time. The new characters - they just don't do nothing for me."
That is, with the exception of one.
"SpongeBob might be the only new character that I have ever painted," he says. "I actually watch all the time. I have all the DVDs and if I ever have time to watch television for a few hours, I'll put a DVD in and sit there and watch it as a marathon.
"I don't know why, but I think he is the coolest character of the newer generation."
Opera Gallery, 52 Wyndham Street, Central, Mon-Sat, 11am-8pm, Sun and public holidays, 11.30am-5.30pm. Ends October 15. Inquiries: 2810 1208
