Best Graffiti

Graffito. Most people don't recognize the word, the singular form of graffiti. Even fewer recognize the vernacular term, graf. However, many a Montrose pedestrian or driver recognizes the dour face of Chicken Boy, whether they know the name or not. Wooden cutouts of the cartoony yellow-faced guy with a red cock's-comb hat keep watch from all over the neighborhood. This past Christmas, posters of the curious kid displayed him with his cock's comb transmogrified into a Santa hat, with "Steal This Poster" printed at the top. (We stole one. Tee-hee.) Who is this guy? Mike "Miguelito" Andrews created the image as a poster campaign while earning his arts degree at the University of Texas in Austin. The school gladly awarded Andrews a grant to pursue his Warhol-inspired concept of "becoming famous by being famous," by planting the icon across the globe. Working out of his 5,000-square-foot home studio (OneTen Studios, a.k.a. Chicken Boy World Headquarters) near Minute Maid Park, he has held five collaborative shows in less than a year, most recently the graf exhibit "Eye of the Beholder," which included the collective Aerosol Warfare. This is no ordinary feat. No, sir. This is a job for Chicken Boy.