THE HISTORY OF SPRAY PAINT ART Hugo Montero, «Can Gogh» His father of Spray paint art!!!

      

CANGOGH: A BRIEF HISTORY

HUGO MONTERO IS THE LAST OF THE FIRST GENERATION OF SPRAY PAINT ARTISTS TO STILL BE PRODUCING THIS GENRE IN THE UNITED STATES. MONTERO, ONE OF THE MAJOR INNOVATORS OF THE TECHNIQUE, WAS INFLUENCED BY ITS ORIGINATOR RUBEN SADOT FERNANDEZ (KNOWN AS SADOT) IN MEXICO CITY’S ZONA ROSA IN THE EARLY 1980S. SADOT, WHO DIED IN 1988, WOULD NEVER HAVE IMAGINED THAT HIS FREESTYLE CREATION WOULD BECOME A WORLDWIDE PHENOMENON WITH ONE OR MORE ARTISTS PRODUCING SOME FORM OF HIS INVENTION IN ALMOST EVERY MAJOR CITY.

THE ART FORM, ALSO CALLED AEROSOLGRAFIA OR SADOTGRAFIA BY ITS FOUNDERS, IS THE HYBRID CHILD OF THE AVANT-GARDE ART MOVEMENT THAT FLOURISHED IN MEXICO’S CAPITAL AFTER THE SOCIAL AND POLITICAL REPRESSION OF THE ‘60S AND ‘70S. MEXICAN ARTISTS WERE INFLUENCED BY AMERICAN AND EUROPEAN URBAN ART FORMS SUCH AS GRAFFITI, POP ART, JAZZ FUSION, BEATNIK POETRY AND PANTOMIME. EVEN THOUGH THERE WAS NO GRAFFITI IN MEXICO AT THE TIME, THE CONCEPT OF CREATING RAPID ART ON THE STREET TOOK ROOT.

SADOT WAS A POET, INTELLECTUAL AND PERFORMER. HIS FORAY INTO SPRAY PAINT BEGAN AS AN EXPERIMENT THAT HE BROUGHT TO THE STREET. HE SAT IN A LOTUS POSITION SURROUNDED BY AEROSOL CANS, AND EFFORTLESSLY CREATED EXQUISITE HUMAN FACES, FIGURES AND LANDSCAPES ON PAPER, CARDBOARD AND CANVAS WITHOUT THE USE OF A BRUSH. HE WORKED TO MUSIC, RANGING FROM CLASSICAL TO ROCK TO PRE-HISPANIC AZTEC BEATS. WHILE HE PAINTED, HE OFTEN SHARED HIS STRONG OPINIONS AND METAPHYSICAL OBSERVATIONS ON CULTURE AND POLITICS WITH THE CROWD.

PEOPLE WERE QUICK TO FOLLOW SADOT’S LEAD, ALTHOUGH NO ONE COULD COPY HIS UNIQUE STYLE. THE FIRST GENERATION OF SPRAY ARTISTS INCLUDED AUGUSTIN PEREZ (EL GUERO) AND ANTONIO JIMENEZ (EL MORENO) WHO WERE RESPONSIBLE FOR DEVELOPING THE «COSMIC» STYLE SO PREVALENT IN SPRAY PAINT ART TODAY. THE MOST NOTABLE TALENT OF THAT GENERATION, AFTER SADOT, WAS VICTOR MANUEL HERNANDEZ (EL GORDO). HE WAS A COMPLETE AND GIFTED ARTIST AND HELPED TRANSFORM THE ART FORM MORE THAN ANY OTHER DISCIPLE OF SADOT. IRONICALLY, SADOT THOUGHT HERNANDEZ WAS A CHEAP IMITATOR AND DETESTED HIM. EVENTUALLY HERNANDEZ MOVED PERMANENTLY TO ACAPULCO.

MONTERO, ALSO AN ARTIST PRIOR TO USING SPRAY PAINT, ATTENDED LA ESCUELA NACIONAL DE MAESTROS (THE NATIONAL TEACHING SCHOOL) WITH HERNANDEZ, WHERE THEY BECAME FRIENDS. IN 1981 MONTERO LEARNED THE TECHNIQUE FROM HERNANDEZ AND ON DECEMBER 21, PERFORMED FOR THE FIRST TIME IN DOWNTOWN MEXICO CITY. IN 1982 MONTERO GRADUATED AND BECAME A TEACHER; HOWEVER, BECAUSE OF THE COUNTRY’S ECONOMIC DECLINE AND HIS NEED TO SUPPORT HIS FAMILY, HE MADE AND SOLD SPRAY PAINTINGS WEEKENDS ON THE STREET TO HELP PAY THE BILLS.

MONTERO BEGAN TO TRAVEL AND PAINT IN THE SUMMER, AND IN 1985 HE PURCHASED A GREYHOUND BUS PASS AND WORKED THE MAJOR THOROUGHFARES FROM LOS ANGELES TO NEW YORK. AS THE FIRST ARTIST TO BRING PERFORMANCE SPRAY CAN ART TO THE UNITED STATES, MONTERO WAS GREETED WITH AMAZEMENT AND DISBELIEF—PEOPLE DIDN’T KNOW WHAT TO MAKE OF THIS AZTEC-LOOKING MEXICAN CREATING SURREAL SCENES ON STREET CORNERS. SOMETIMES THE CROWDS SCARED MONTERO—OTHER TIMES HE SCARED THE CROWDS.

NEW YORK WAS THE CITY THAT IMPRESSED MONTERO MOST. THE DIVERSITY OF CLASS, RACE, ENTERTAINMENT, ART AND LIFESTYLE INSPIRED MONTERO TO BECOME A FULL-TIME ARTIST. HE SAW MANY KINDS OF ART, BUT DID NOT COME ACROSS ANYONE WHO DID WHAT HE DID. HE WISHED THAT SADOT WERE THERE TO DRAW THE ATTENTION THE ART FORM DESERVED.

 

ON THIS TRIP HE SAW GRAFFITI FOR THE FIRST TIME AND UNDERSTOOD IT TO BE A VISUAL DENUNCIATION OF THE CAPITALIST SYSTEM AND FAILED AMERICAN DREAM. ON A NEW YORK SUBWAY WALL HE SAW A SPRAY-PAINTED VERSION OF EDWARD MUNCH’S THE SCREAM, BLEEDING, WITH THE CAPTION, «WATCH ME.» THE IMAGE IMPRESSED UPON MONTERO THE POWER OF THE AEROSOL CAN FOR SOCIAL COMMENTARY AND CEMENTED THE TOOL AS HIS PERSONAL ARTIFACT. HE TRIED SOME GRAFFITI BUT FOUND IT WAS NOT REWARDING FOR HIM. HE BELIEVES THAT IN THE LAST DECADE GRAFFITI’S DRAMATIC IMPACT HAS BEEN LOST; MOST GRAFFITI NOW IS DONE BY SUBURBAN YOUTH AND IS SIMPLY VANDALISM. 

WHEN MONTERO RETURNED TO MEXICO CITY IN THE FALL OF 1985, HE FOUND THE NUMBER OF SPRAY PAINT ARTISTS HAD MULTIPLIED. THEN, IN 1986, THE PESO WAS DEVALUATED AND THE ECONOMY TOOK A NOSEDIVE. THE NUMBER OF STREET VENDORS AND ARTISTS ACCELERATED EVEN MORE AND THE CITY STARTED SENDING INSPECTORS AROUND TO MOVE THEM OFF THE STREETS.

AROUND THIS TIME, MONTERO BECAME A COMPETITOR OF SADOT’S ON THE SIDEWALKS OF THE ZONA ROSA, BUT SADOT DIDN’T EVEN NOTICE HIM. SADOT WAS AN ESTABLISHED STAR, AND EVENTUALLY CITY INSPECTORS FORCED MONTERO, ALONG WITH OTHER ARTISTS AND PERFORMERS, TO LEAVE THE ZONA ROSA. SADOT’S DISCIPLES, INCLUDING MONTERO, AND THEIR STUDENTS, BEGAN PAINTING IN COYOACAN, THE MEXICO CITY SOHO AND SITE OF FRIDA KAHLO’S FAMOUS CASA AZUL.

NOTABLE SPRAY ARTISTS IN COYOACAN, MOST OF WHOM LEARNED THE ART FROM MONTERO, INCLUDED JOSE LUIS RAMIREZ (EL LUIGI), GERARDO AMOR, RAFAEL MARTINEZ (EL PLANTILLAS), JORGE PENA, ISRAEL SALCEDO, RICARDO HUET AND CECILIA BANOS. HOWEVER, THERE WAS NOT ENOUGH ROOM FOR EVERYONE AND INSPECTORS BEGAN HARASSING THE PAINTERS. THIS IS WHEN THE DIASPORA BEGAN. TO MAKE A LIVING, THE ARTISTS SPREAD THROUGHOUT MEXICO. MOST WENT TO TOURIST DESTINATIONS SUCH AS PUERTO VALLARTA, CANCUN, VERA CRUZ, MAZATLAN, ACAPULCO, OAXACA AND PLAYA DEL CARMEN. IN THESE CITIES EUROPEANS AND OTHER INTERNATIONAL VISITORS LEARNED THE ART AND BROUGHT IT BACK TO THEIR OWN COUNTRIES.

UNFORTUNATELY, MANY STUDENTS AND IMITATORS OF THESE FIRST GENERATION PAINTERS TOOK ONLY A PORTION OF THE KNOWLEDGE WITH THEM. LIKE SELECTING THREE CHORDS OUT OF A HUNDRED POSSIBLE CHOICES, THEY TOOK THE MINIMUM THEY NEEDED TO MAKE MONEY. LITTLE EVOLUTION OF THE ART FORM HAS OCCURRED SINCE THAT TIME, EXCEPT FROM A HANDFUL OF DEDICATED ARTISTS. MANY SPRAY PAINT PRACTITIONERS STILL WORK WITH THE LIMITED AND PRIMITIVE PALETTE THAT STEMS FROM THESE EARLY IMITATORS.

CONCERNS ABOUT CRASS COMMERCIALIZATION AND CHEAPENING OF THE ART LED SOME OF THE ORIGINAL PAINTERS TO DISCUSS METHODS TO MAINTAIN ITS INTEGRITY. IN 1988, MIGUEL ZEPEDA (EL MIKE), A FASHIONABLE AND CHARISMATIC SPRAY ARTIST AND GRAPHIC DESIGN STUDENT AT THE UNIVERSIDAD AUTONOMA METROPOLITANA (UAM), HELPED BRING EXISTING SPRAY ARTISTS INTO A DIALOGUE AND ORGANIZED AN EXHIBITION AT THE SCHOOL’S XOCHIMILCO BRANCH. THIS HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL EXHIBIT BEGAN TO LEGITIMIZE THE ART FORM. AFTERWARDS, MONTERO, SADOT AND HUET BEGAN THE ASOCIACION MEXICANA DE PINTORES EN AEROSOL (AMPA), WITH SADOT AS ITS PRESIDENT.

BONNIE STANGLEMIER, A WEALTHY RESTAURANT OWNER, BEGAN TAKING PAINTING CLASSES FROM SADOT, AND OFFERED «CHEZ BONNIE» AS A MEETING PLACE FOR AMPA. BONNIE ALSO BROUGHT THE FAMOUS ARTIST JOSE LUIS CUEVAS, A REGULAR AT HER RESTAURANT, TO MEET THE YOUNG ARTISTS IN THE ASSOCIATION, AND HE BECAME THE GODFATHER OF THE GROUP. BONNIE WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR ORGANIZING A CONFERENCE AT A FAMOUS SAN ANGEL ART AND BOOK STORE, GALERIA GANDHI, IN 1988. SHE ARRANGED NOT ONLY FOR JOSE LUIS CUEVAS TO MODERATE, BUT FOR WELL KNOWN ART CRITICS RAQUEL TIVOL AND TERESA DEL CONDE, TO COVER THE EVENT.

RIGHT BEFORE THE CONFERENCE WAS TO TAKE PLACE, A TRAGEDY OCCURRED. AS AMPA MEMBERS WERE PREPARING FOR A PRE-EVENT MEETING WITH JOSE LUIS CUEVAS, MONTERO WAS CALLED TO IDENTIFY A BODY. IT WAS SADOT. HE HAD BEEN DEPRESSED AND WAS DRINKING AND DOING DRUGS. HE HAD SPENT THE HUGE AMOUNTS OF MONEY MADE WITH HIS STREET ART, HIS GIRLFRIEND HAD LEFT HIM, AND HE HAD LEGAL PROBLEMS. IN ADDITION, HIS STREET BUSINESS HAD DECLINED DRAMATICALLY DUE TO A SLEW OF NEW SPRAY PAINTERS NOW PRACTICING HIS ART.

NO ONE KNOWS IF IT WAS SUICIDE OR AN ACCIDENT WHEN SADOT DIED WALKING ACROSS A BUSY FREEWAY EARLY ONE SATURDAY MORNING. THAT SATURDAY AFTERNOON, WHILE THE REST OF THE ASSOCIATION WAS POSING FOR A PUBLICITY SHOT WITH MR. CUEVAS AT HIS RESIDENCE, MONTERO WAS SIGNING PAPERS AT THE MORGUE. SADOT WAS ESTRANGED FROM HIS FAMILY AND HAD BECOME CLOSE TO MONTERO AND HIS WIFE IN THE MONTHS BEFORE HIS DEATH.

MONTERO WAS ELECTED PRESIDENT OF AMPA FOLLOWING SADOT’S DEATH. THE CONFERENCE TOOK PLACE A SHORT TIME LATER WITH MONTERO, EL MIKE AND HUET AS THE MAIN PRESENTERS. THE TOPIC OF THE MEETING WAS «AEROSOL, ART OR CRAFT?» WITHIN A WEEK THE MEXICO CITY NEWSPAPER LA JORNADA HAD ENDORSED THE ART FORM, AND MONTERO AND EL MORENO WERE INVITED TO SPEAK ON NATIONAL TELEVISION. JIMENEZ (EL MORENO), ONE OF THE CREATORS OF THE ART, ALWAYS RESISTANT TO PUBLICITY, AGREED TO APPEAR ON TV THIS ONE TIME TO GIVE HOMAGE TO SADOT.

MANY OTHER EVENTS OCCURRED WITHIN THE NEXT MONTHS, SUCH AS A RECEPTION AND EXHIBIT AT A FANCY HOTEL DOWNTOWN—THE FIRST MAJOR SHOW IN A COMMERCIAL GALLERY, AND A TRIBUTE EXHIBIT UNDERWRITTEN BY THE COUNTRY’S RULING POLITICAL PARTY, THE PARTIDO REVOLUCIONARIO INSTITUCIONAL (PRI), WHICH IS IRONIC SINCE SADOT AND MOST OF THE SPRAY CAN ARTISTS WERE ANTI-PRI. THE FAMOUS MEXICO CITY ARTIST FELIPE EHRENBERG, WHO HAD BEEN USING SPRAY PAINT IN HIS NON-TRADITIONAL ART FORMS FOR YEARS, ASKED TO JOIN AMPA, DRAMATICALLY RAISING THE PROFILE OF THE ORGANIZATION.

HOWEVER, DESPITE POSITIVE MEDIA ATTENTION AND GROWING SUPPORT FOR THE ART, THE ECONOMY WAS STILL IN BAD SHAPE. LUIS (EL MEXICAN) WAS THE FIRST TO PAINT IN THE U.S. AFTER MONTERO AND HE STAYED IN LOS ANGELES FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS, TEACHING OTHERS WHO THEN FANNED ACROSS THE U.S., AMONG THEM A TALENTED YOUNG MEXICAN NAMED RICARDO PONCE, CONSIDERED BY SOME EXPERTS TO BE THE MOST TECHNICALLY GIFTED SPRAY ARTIST IN THE WORLD. PONCE LIVES AND WORKS IN NEW ORLEANS.

MONTERO ENDED UP STAYING IN THE UNITED STATES AFTER GOING SEE THE WHO IN HOUSTON. IN 1989 HE SETTLED IN NEW ORLEANS WHERE HE WAS OFFERED A JOB TEACHING SPANISH IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS. HE LIVED THERE FOR MANY YEARS AND HIS REPUTATION AS AN ARTIST GREW. AT THE PEAK OF MONTERO’S POPULARITY HE WAS VOTED ONE OF THE «40 UNDER 40 PEOPLE TO WATCH,» HAD SHOWS AT THE NEW ORLEANS CONTEMPORARY ARTS CENTER AND THE SMITHSONIAN IN WASHINGTON DC, COLLABORATED WITH MTV, AND WAS INVITED TO BE A CELEBRITY JUDGE AT THE HAWAIIAN TROPIC BEAUTY CONTEST IN HONOLULU. HE PAINTED FINE ART FOR GALLERY SHOWS WHILE CONTINUING TO PAINT ON THE STREET WHERE HE TEAMED UP WITH PONCE FOR ABOUT FIVE YEARS. A JOURNALIST WRITING AN ARTICLE ABOUT MONTERO IN NEW ORLEANS DUBBED HIM CANGOGH AND THE NICKNAME STUCK.

MONTERO STARTED SPENDING TIME IN SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS WHEN HIS WIFE TOOK A JOB THERE IN 2002. FOLLOWING HURRICANE KATRINA IN 2005, MONTERO AND HIS FAMILY MOVED PERMANENTLY TO SAN ANTONIO AND HE CURRENTLY PAINTS NEAR THE ALAMO. HE HAS THREE SONS, ALL OF WHOM ARE ARTISTS, AND ONE PAINTS WITH HIM IN SAN ANTONIO. MONTERO AND HIS WIFE RUN THE STONE MONTERO STUDIO OUT OF THEIR HOME AND ARE WORKING ON A BOOK ABOUT SADOT AND HIS ART. 

 

 

HUGO MONTERO, «CAN GOGH» Ο ΠΑΤΈΡΑΣ ΤΟΥ SPRAY PAINT ART!!!

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