Through the Hands of Misael
Written by Jesse
Photos by Jesse
In the heart of Vallarta’s 5 de Diciembre neighborhood, tucked away behind a taco stand on Calle Colombia, lies Misael’s studio. But as you enter, you don't just walk into Misael’s workspace, you walk into his world. A world so fascinating and intriguing you don’t want to leave. A world filled with colors, murals, and of course, spray cans. Walking into Misael’s office, you are welcomed by a huge hanging mural of TuPac, one of Misael’s biggest influences (besides Prince). Collectible toys that serve as his inspiration lay effortlessly organized on the shelves. A couple skate decks and paint cans lay around. It’s as though Misael has brought street culture within the four walls of his office.
An office where all Misael’s magic happens; where plans for new projects are created, ideas are born, beats are made, and inspiration soars. Right next to his office is a space in which he has future plans to turn into a store and gallery. Naturally, he has already painted a mural on the metal gate that will soon open to customers.
In Misael’s warehouse, canvases and his works of art are laid out, and walking through his workshop was like walking through a museum. Nothing but masterpiece after masterpiece. I’ve always been a fan on his work; driving by any of his street art always exhilarates me, maybe because I’m a New Yorker and live and breathe street culture, but more likely because his work is just phenomenal.
Misael’s pieces can be seen all over Vallarta, from the streets to restaurants like Makal in Zona Romantica. I was beyond excited to sit down and get to know Misael and his story. With such talent like that, I knew his story had to be one of intrigue, and boy, was I right!
Read our interview below!
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Jesse: Hey Misael, thanks so much for joining me and Calle Pata Salada. So, much to my surprise, you were raised in the states! How is the graffiti culture different in the states vs. here in Mexico?
Misael: In the states they have the Vandal Squad, they go and take photos and investigate the graffiti. There are taxes that go into that, and that doesn’t exist in Mexico. I came here and people were posting their graffiti on their Facebook, and I’m like wait, what?! You can’t do that in the states, you can’t show your face, EVER. Everybody paints under bridges and in lowkey spots in the states, and here, everybody paints on the streets for everyone to see. It’s an art form here and way more accepted than in the states.
J: It’s a different culture here for sure. When did you first start graffiting?
M: I started doing real graffiti in 2003, but I did my first tags probably in like ‘98 or ‘99.
J: How did you start painting?
M: I started painting when I was 4. My parents enrolled me in a preschool and I remember I started the school year late, so I felt super shy. And not only did they enroll me late, but on my first day, we got there after class had already started. So we showed up and everyone was sitting in a circle and when we showed up, everyone turned to look at me. So I was super shy, and I didn’t understand english at the time. And one of the reasons I think I started painting was because I didn’t want to talk to anybody. In that same class, the teacher showed us Spinart, which was mind blowing for me. That was a powerful moment for me as a kid, to see that paint could be manipulated. It opened my mind up to what you can do with paint and how colors mix.
J: Hahah, yeah I can imagine how for a future graffiti artist, seeing spin art as a kid is a game changer.
M: Yeah I remember the feeling I got, I was like “this is the coolest thing I’ve ever seen in my life”. Fast forward to kindergarten where one day, I remember we were doing themed arts and crafts. And the theme that day was The Jungle Book. So with construction paper or whatever, I cut out a monkey and hung it up by it’s hand. The teacher was superrrr impressed and brought all of the kids over to see what I had cut out. And everyone was like “woah this is so cool!”. That was the first time I ever felt that satisfaction and had that kind of positive feedback. It’s one of my biggest memories and from then on, I wanted to chase that feeling. A couple of years later, in grade school, I was drawing everyday, things like Jordans and Power Rangers. Then later, I got into Cholos and the lowrider magazines. In the lowrider magazines they airbrushed the cars, so to me, these were art cars. That’s what inspired me next, I was like I want to be like those guys, I want to be an airbrush artist. After that, of course, I got into graffiti. I remember I first noticed graffiti in video games or thrasher magazines, like all the pools in LA that were tagged up. I didn’t really know what it was but it looked cool, it looked street, and I loved it. Then you know, I would steal a couple of my dad’s spray cans with my brothers and go tag up under a bridge the things I would see in video games.
Then it was about in 2000 when I started to notice this guy who did this icon of a rounded top hat with an exclamation mark, super easy but super iconic. And that was the first time i was like hold up, I saw that symbol somewhere else. And then I saw it again and again. So that’s when I connected the dots on graffiti and tags.
J: Have you always been fascinated by and drawn to street culture?
M: When I was about 5, my parents gave me rollerblades and I got super into that. Then we got into skateboarding, did that for about 10 years. So everything in my life was centered around street culture. You know, hip-hop and punk rock, very similar things, street. Skateboarding, street. Graffiti, street. I’ve always been into street art and culture.
My dad used to breakdance when he was a kid, so we grew up with street culture in the house, watching things like Juice with Tupac. So this is all in my genes. He had a huge CD rack, and listened to hip-hop and jazz. And I listened to all of that music growing up, like the Chronic album, all that stuff, so I feel like I can relate with guys who grew up in the 80s, even though I grew up in the ‘90s. So I had that influence from a young age.
J: Yeah so your understanding of that culture was accelerated, you’ve always had an affinity to street culture. And well, graffiti is the art of the streets, so naturally it makes sense why that became your passion.
M: And looking back, it’s so obvious why I was attracted to it. I grew up in it.
J: Who would you say is a big influence for you aside from the street culture itself?
M: It’s gotta be Prince, Prince is the greatest artist of all time to me. Prince was discovered when he was 16 and he already knew how to play like 20 instruments. He not only self-recorded his first 4-5 albums, he did all the music, wrote it all. Did all the base, all the guitar, all the lyrics. And then engineered it all. He was a genius, and nobody knows any of this, because he was so humble. I can go on and on about him, he is incredible. He just had a way about him, like when he played the superbowl and sang “Purple Rain” it started raining. Never before had it rained during the superbowl halftime show. But Prince had something special about him.
Tu-Pac is another big inspiration. He was just such a great artist. I’m mainly inspired by musicians, which is weird since I’m a street artist. But I do beatboxing too, I dabble here and there in beats.
I try to put all of my inspirations into my paintings which is kind of annoying because I’m into chicano stuff, and japanese anime stuff and skateboarding and punk and hip-hop. So, so much stuff, which can get overwhelming but it’s good.
J: Where are your ideas born from?
M: Well I’m going through a lot of transitions right now. When I first moved to Mexico, I started getting really inspired by the Mexican art. So I incorporated the huichol and aztec stuff more. And now I’m getting back to my roots a little bit. I’m doing a new piece [points to piece] that has lowrider bikes. In this one, there’s a Mexican woman wearing a Oaxaca style dress, with braids and flowers, she’s sitting on a lowrider bike. Then there’s a hint of cholo vibes. So this is going to be a cool piece.
J: What are some goals, long term and short term?
M: I always used to tell my mom that I was going to be famous. I’m at a good point in my career right now, you know, everyone knows me in Puerto Vallarta. I’m getting there nationally but I want to get there internationally. I would love to do mass production like having my work on t-shirts.
I would love to bring Mexican color and style and my style and paint something in Germany. I would love to go international. I think art is the greatest educational tool. I’m really into education and I would love to help children with fewer resources by putting little art studios in orphanages. That will help them, art is a fantastic way in which to express yourself. There is so much to learn in art.
And I’d like to write my manifesto. That’s a big one.
J: What are some upcoming projects?
M: I’m doing the Puerto Mágico, which is kind of historical. And this [points to workspace]; my shop, my own personal spaceship, my own Disneyland. I never want to leave here, I have everything I need here. My spray cans, my murals. I absolutely love my studio.
J: Nice! So you’re working on solidifying this work space, and then you’re going to open up a store?
M: Yeah I want it to be like an art/cultural center, so people can rent it out for workshops or classes. I’m also going to open up a store so I can sell paint cans and supplies, because I think the community needs an art shop, a real street art shop. We’re going to do shows, art shows. It’s a really fun project. So if anyone is interested in displaying their art, they can feel free to reach out to me.
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A huge shoutout to Misael for taking the time to talk with me and share his story. If any of you readers are looking for a muralist, Misael is your guy! Be sure to give him a follow on Instagram @misael_paints.
