Stinkfish

Stinkfish’s kaleidoscopic spray-painted stencils capture moments in time, emphasizing the hope and humanity flickering behind the eyes of everyday people from across the globe.  

The self-taught street artist (birth name classified) was born in Mexico City but raised in Bogotá, Colombia’s capital and largest city. He adopted the alias “Stink” at age 15 to tag the walls and tables of his high school, and added the “-fish” suffix prior to launching his graffiti career in 2003. Stinkfish gained international recognition for his colorful, often colossal murals before showing his work in galleries; his trademark stencils commemorate anonymous citizens photographed in the course of his world travels. “I look for powerful gazes — eyes through which the whole image can be read,” he says.

Stinkfish made his Vertical Gallery debut with the 2014 solo exhibition ‘Savage Gaze,’ followed five years later by ‘The short distance between lands. The long distance between ports.’ He returned to Vertical in 2025 with ‘Prickly portraits of a fragmented world.’