Opera Gallery is proud to present a major solo exhibition of legendary American street artist SEEN. The artist will join the opening night, showcasing new original stencil and spray paint works on canvas, as well as his iconic free-hand graffiti works. The exhibition features SEEN’s newest series of Superheroes – with the likes of Superman, Batman, Catwoman and Hulk, against bold collages of his graffiti signage. “I grew up with superheroes and cartoons. All these characters are part of my life; I consider them my friends,” SEEN explains. Hailed as the “Godfather of Graffiti’’, SEEN was born in 1961 in The Bronx, New York as Richard “Richie” Mirando. Named SEEN ‘to be seen’, the graffiti legend first took to the streets of New York City in 1973, quickly gaining notoriety for his whole train panel-pieces with his crew United Artists (UA). By the early 80’s, there were more pieces by SEEN than billboards, having painted all the subway lines running throughout Manhattan. On the thrill of painting trains SEEN commented, “It was about getting in and doing your thing, then getting out before you got caught.” In the late 1980s SEEN moved from the streets to the studio to produce original works on canvas. When the genre of Street Art, which began as a form of subversive public communication, was becoming legitimate, SEEN was at the forefront. Despite the high demand for his canvas works in New York and in Europe, SEEN continued to hit the New York subway trains until 1989 with the crackdown on public vandalism. Today, SEEN’s works can be found in museums, galleries and private collections all over the world, influencing and producing alongside the next generation of daring street artists. In 2013 he also broke numerous auction records, placing his art at the foremost position of today’s street art.