A Retrospective
A self-published artist retrospective is now available.
Chito: One marks the first installment in an ongoing catalogue series documenting and archiving the work of the American visual artist and designer, Chito (b. 1996), known best for his airbrushed works on rare objects and garments procured in the contexts of their origins. The self-published volume rigorously records the genesis and evolution of his now well-known practice from the beginning of his career in 2014, to 2018 when his work was exposed to a global audience for the first time through a collaboration with Supreme.
Chito: One features 264 pages of lush archival photographs sourced from Chito’s own camera rolls and is supplemented with images from early colleagues and votaries. Accompanying these visuals is a saccharine text introduction from Creative Director, Mellany Sanchez and an authoritative essay by Curator, Bergen Hendrickson that simultaneously unearths and illuminates the interiority of Chito’s world.
Chito’s evolving practice is steeped in the nuances of exclusivity and novelty, existing at an intersection that becomes a crossroad where value itself is recontextualized. With rare objects and luxury-adjacent garments as his canvases, the airbrush dusted onto these rich exteriors textures the object’s elemental character allowing Chito’s alteration to transcend degradation, crossing a threshold in which its very sanctity is challenged and become singular. Chito’s work thus creates an unlikely juncture for open-ended conversations as the airbrush medium he champions evades the label of “graffiti” even though its degree of separation is measured in nuance. This nuance is synonymous with emotionality as Chito is not only adding a layer of paint to these objects but his own experiences of them in their natal contexts. As he acquires them, possession becomes process and airbrushing becomes an act of understanding in which identity is maintained and built upon. The widespread recognition of Chito’s work finds genesis here as brands see their coveted bestsellers transformed from objects into canvases with a longevity of their own. He has worked with Supreme, Arcteryx Veilance, and most recently Givenchy.
Chito: One was printed at Offset Santiago in Toluca, Mexico and designed by Javier Salomón Huerta Martínez. It will be available through a DTC launch on August 5th at chito.international and launching globally at select stockists on August 7th. Chito: One retails for 100 USD and the first printing also includes a limited escapulario.
About Chito
Born in Seattle, Washington, Chito is a self-taught artist and designer based in New York and Mexico City. He has developed a distinct visual language best articulated through the medium of airbrush painting on a revolving canvas of garments and objects that in turn become transgressive structures. Through his nomadic practice, he has created an idiosyncratic cast of characters that serve as beheld signatures, dripping hallmarks of his work that have gone on to live lives of their own as they are worn on the backs of the likes of Frank Ocean, Drake and ASAP Rocky, exhibited around the world and find willful evolution through collaborations with Supreme and Arc’teryx Veilance. Alongside participation in group shows in Mexico City, Paris, Vancouver, New York, Miami and Tokyo, Chito made his international solo debut with his 2017 exhibition FWM, PGU (Crack Gallery, Vancouver), followed by another international exhibition Notes To… at Lagos Gallery, Mexico City in 2020. He remains enigmatic, shifting intentionally, writhing in his own becoming.
