Richard “Seen” Mirando
Born in 1961 in New York, NY. Lives and works between New York and Paris.
Raised in the Bronx, Richard Mirando, aka Seen, made his first paintings on cars, which he decorated for his uncle’s business. At the time, the importance of the graffiti movement in New York was on the rise, and Mirando was captivated by the painted subway trains he saw sailing throughout the city. In the summer of 1973, he decided to break into a train yard and paint his first car. He eventually began to paint full-color whole cars, from top to bottom, some of which are still remembered by many New Yorkers. His unique style, his creativity, and his tenacity made him one of the major figures in the 1980s New York graffiti scene. In 1982, the documentary Style Wars by Tony Silver and Henry Chalfant made him an icon of the movement. Since the 1980s, however, his work has moved beyond the subways and onto the more traditional surface of the canvas, thus drawing him closer to the world of art galleries.