Juan Sebastián Aguirre, better known as Apitatán, is an Ecuadorian urban artist, graphic designer, and illustrator who, in addition to filling local and foreign street with art, strives to generates a sense of surprise with his work.

The first thing you notice when you encounter one of his paintings is his use of language and especially the way he uses everyday Ecuadorian sayings in the local vernacular to evoke surprise. Next is his use of humorous characters with exaggerated features and bright colors that border on the cartoonish. Seeing one of his pieces is to enter into the domain of the unexpected and will likely put a smile on your face.

Although he defines himself as a professional painter and illustrator, he maintains that it is important for him not to get hung up in the details or to focus too much on the technical aspects of his work. Instead, he finds a “go with the flow” attitude of painting murals in the streets to be an antidote to the meticulousness that sometimes, at a desk or in front of an easel, tends to slow down his strokes.

Through his witty sarcasm and unique engaging style, Apitatán has proven himself to be not just an urban muralist, but also a representative of his time and nationality, making him one of the most outstanding of his generation. It is also worth mentioning that he sometimes uses his medium to show support for modern struggles like same-sex marriage, and that this has occasionally brought him into conflict with the local community and with the authorities.

If you want to check updates on his works, you can check his website: https://www.apitatan.com/murals and Instagram account: https://www.instagram.com/apitatan/