It’s not Wednesday, it’s not Friday, no dear reader – it’s Interviewday here on The Leap, so put down the Facebook, pick up the coffee, put on your headies and lock the world out for ten minutes (if you’re a very slow reader). Ready? Right then, let’s begin.

In the Cape Town CBD is a grand and ancient bar at the Kimberly Hotel, which is where, on any given Friday night, quite a few of the creative souls that plague the city are to be found sucking inspiration from glass containers. This isn’t about them, but rather about a visiting artist from Mexico named Gerardo Muñoz, who's staying at the Kimberly and I met at said popular joint over a beer last Friday lunchtime.

Gerardo’s from Tlaxcala – officially known as the Free and Sovereign State of Tlaxcala – which is the smallest state in Mexico. And he’s here in Cape Town on account of the good folk over at Am I Collective, who he’s joined for a year to share his skills and creative output (he’s already started busting out a great mural in their offices). Having been spraying, painting and generally pumping out unique brand of illustration and sculpture since the age of 14, Gerardo’s work has seen him enter the advertising industry after leaving university – he’s done time at Saatchi, Leo Burnett and DDB, but the lure of street art is too strong for him – which is why he’s in Cape Town.

Describing his range of output as mixed media, and mostly sticking to his preferred arsenal of acrylic and cans, Gerardo’s illustration is noticeably coloured by the rich contrasting palette associated with the best of Mexican art and could be described as psychedelic folk graffiti, which incorporates the flow and palette of impressionism with his unique textured colouring technique. His range is pretty varied too; he’s worked on illustration for magazines, album artwork, wall murals, skate decks and event posters and also sculpture. His true love? Wall art, which has seen him work with some of the world’s leading muralists, including the legendary Aryz.

Gerardo’s in town for another 11 months – if you see him, say hi, he’s a great guy who looks a little like a hobbit (thus the name of his blog: hobbitculturearts.blogpost.com). And if you see some crazy/beautiful wall art done in a style you’ve never seen before, you’ll know if it’s his.

Mucho gusto, Gerardo!

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