Vales began painting the sides of subway trains in the mid to late 80s. It was the peak of the graffiti years in NYC and he was able to get into the gallery scene quickly from there. He started, Lower East Side Clothing with graffiti partner Gil Aviles but after painting murals in clubs like Tunnel, Limelight and the World he changed from clothing designer to large scale mural maker. For a while he may have had murals in about 500 clubs from NYC to Miami before a Hollywood producer brought him out west to paint murals on shows sets in the early 90’s.

Interview with legendary graffitti artist Erni Vales