Richard "Richie" Mirando, known as Seen UA (born 1961) is an American

graffiti Graffiti (plural; singular ''graffiti'' or ''graffito'', the latter rarely used except in archeology) is art that is written, painted or drawn on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from s ...

artist. He is one of the best known graffiti artists in the world and has been referred to as the Godfather of Graffiti. Seen first started to paint on the New York City Subway system in 1973. His crew, United Artists (or simply UA), which included Duster, Sin, and his brother Mad, painted whole cars. He was born in

the Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

Life

For the next 16 years he painted pieces across the city and on all subway routes, but they were especially prominent on the 2, 5, and 6 trains. He was responsible for dozens of whole-car top-to-bottoms, many of which have become iconic images of the time. During the very early 1980s Seen started producing work on canvas, shown by galleries and bought by museums and private collectors worldwide. These included not only solo exhibitions but also group shows with artists

Keith Haring Keith Allen Haring (May 4, 1958 – February 16, 1990) was an American artist whose pop art emerged from the New York City graffiti subculture of the 1980s. His animated imagery has "become a widely recognized visual language". Much of his wor ...

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the Art movement, visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore th ...

, Jean-Michel Basquiat,

Dondi Donald Joseph White, "DONDI" (April 7, 1961 – October 2, 1998) was an American graffiti artist. Biography Early life Born in the East New York neighborhood of Brooklyn, Dondi was the youngest of five children. He was of African American a ...

, Quik,

Blade A blade is the portion of a tool, weapon, or machine with an edge that is designed to puncture, chop, slice or scrape surfaces or materials. Blades are typically made from materials that are harder than those they are to be used on. Histor ...

, and Lee Quiñones. Despite such success and constant world travel, Seen continued to paint New York City subway trains until 1989, long after increased pressure from the MTA had stopped many from doing so. He was included in the 1983

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

documentary ''

Style Wars ''Style Wars'' is an American 1983 documentary film on hip hop culture, directed by Tony Silver and produced in collaboration with Henry Chalfant. The film has an emphasis on graffiti, although bboying and rapping are covered to a lesser extent ...

.'' In the late 1980s Seen also undertook

tattoo A tattoo is a form of body modification made by inserting tattoo ink, dyes, and/or pigments, either indelible or temporary, into the dermis layer of the skin to form a design. Tattoo artists create these designs using several tattooing ...

art, opening Tattoo Seen, a tattoo parlor which became one of the most successful studios in New York City. Seen's more recent work includes three-dimensional sculpture, mixed media work with reclaimed or discarded materials (often found in the street), and a series of hand-painted MTA New York subway maps. He continues to exhibit worldwide and produce work with and alongside artists such as

Banksy Banksy is a pseudonymous England-based street artist, political activist and film director whose real name and identity remain unconfirmed and the subject of speculation. Active since the 1990s, his satirical street art and subversive epigram ...

. In 2009, the Seen Gallery opened in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

before becoming the Seen Studios, France. He also has been exhibited at the Fondation Cartier. In 2010, Seen had a solo exhibition at

Magda Danysz Gallery Magda Danysz Gallery is an art gallery in Paris, France, owned by Magda Danysz, an art dealer and art curator. Magda Danysz Magda Danysz started in the art business in the early 1990s, when she opened her first art space in 1991 when she was 1 ...

. In 2011, he signed on with Opera Gallery (12 locations worldwide), and its Paris gallery exhibited his work. Seen's Throw ups/pieces can be seen in digital video-games '' The Warriors,'' '' Marc Eckō's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure'' and '' Grand Theft Auto V.'' He has focused on painting comic book heroes. He has his own clothing line that prints t-shirts with his lettering and comic hero renderings. Image:SEENBANKSY.jpg, Image:LondonStickball.jpg, Image:Mixedmedia.jpg, Image:Londonhatemyself.jpg, Image:SEEN_2003.jpg, Image:Seen ua paris 2007 jnl.jpg,

Exhibitions

Solo shows

*1982, 1983, 1985 : The Yaki Kornblitt Gallery,

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

*1983 : Stellweg-Seguy gallery, New York City *1985 : Suntory company,

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

*1995 : Clayton Gallery, New York City *2001 : Twenty-four Gallery, Vancouver. Bob's Gallery, New York City *2003 : Toy Tokyo Gallery, New York City. STIP Gallery,

. Stussy SF Gallery,

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

. Concrete Vibes Gallery, New York City. Marco Art Gallery, New York City *2005 : Rocket World Gallery,

. Outside Institute Space,

Londres Londres may refer to: Locations * London, capital of the United Kingdom and England, called ''Londres'' in French, Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, Galician, and Filipino * Londres, Catamarca, Argentina, formally "San Juan de la Ribera de Londres" ...

. Prosper Gallery,

. Mc Caigwelles Gallery, New York City *2006 : Stolen Space gallery,

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

*2007 : Seen City, Galerie Chappe, ParisSeen, l'emblème du graffiti
Marie Claire, 2007 *2009 : The 1st SEEN Pop-Up Show,

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, third-largest city and Urban area (France), second-largest metropolitan area of F ...

*2009 : Carhartt Gallery,

Weil am Rhein Weil am Rhein (High Alemannic: ''Wiil am Rhii'') is a German town and commune. It is on the east bank of the River Rhine, and extends to the point at which the Swiss, French and German borders meet. It is the most southwesterly town in Germany an ...

*2009 : Kleerup Gallery, Stockholm *2010 : PleaSE ENjoy @

, Paris *2011 : Seen, Opera Gallery, Paris

Bibliography

References

External links

BlkMarket
– some of Seen's artwork

Interview with Seen
Radio France Internationale
The Cornell Hip Hop Collection
preserves 149 of Seen's original drawings and 370 original photographs of his work {{DEFAULTSORT:Seen American graffiti artists Living people 1961 births