Inti Castro is a muralist devoted to street art, specifically to graffiti, since age 15, he initially plied his trade spraying tags and letters, today he continues to use spray cans. He was born in the port city of Valparaíso, Chile. His name, translated into Incan means ‘Sun’. WHilst painting on the streets he studied at the Fine Arts School of Viña del Mar. Today he is one of the most recognized street artists globally. He usually paints murals on a gigantic scale, his works often take up whole sides of buildings. He has painted murals in several cities in Chile and worldwide and has participated in international festivals dedicated to the culture of street and graffiti in Norway, France, Poland, Hawaii and Lebanon amongst others. He was also one of the organizers of the Graffiti festival in Valparaiso that pays tribute to the city characterized as a cultural melting pot. Inti ́s work is mainly inspired by pre-Columbian and Andean cultures, rescuing and redefining iconography and symbols that are both ancient and contemporary. His characters look very often like puppets, dolls, and usually represent the human figure as well as animals. Despite criticism from detractors of artistic expression in public spaces, he was granted murals on walls and buildings initially in Valparaiso followed by cities all over the world. He is also part of a crew named ’Stgo Under’ who he still occasionally paints with.
