I met Ruben "Sadot" Fernandez in 1982. He let me watch him for 5 hours straight on three separate days spaced a couple days apart. I watched him get arrested on the second night and helped his female companion Siluen load his stuff into the car. The third night I got to go to his apartment on calle Yucatan and he mezmerized me with his poetry and mysticism until daybreak.

I met Hugo Montero around 12 years later in The French Quarter and he filled me in on much of the history and myths. This was aproximately 1994 as confirmed by friends I was visiting at the time. The www.cangogh.net sight is the most comprehensive on the history of the origins, but there are perhaps some discrepencies with the dates. Cangogh does tell the most complete story of the beginnings of spray art in el D.F. , by the late '80s there were alot of people working in spray art.
Possibly Miguel Gonzalez Zepeda "El Mike" was the first imitator of "Sadot" but others say that "El Guero" & "El Moreno" were the next to paint after Sadot with the "Cosmic" style.
There were others ('83-'84) who were not members of AMPA such as Victor Rodriguez who only painted briefly until they discovered how hard the authorities made it for painters to work in the street confiscating paintings and tools.
Two brothers of "El Guero" (Saul & Mauricio Perez) took the art form to Miami via NYC.
Also "El Gordo" (Victor Manuel Hernandez) appeared at this time (Late 1984 or early 1985) and was the one to show Hugo Montero the art of Spray paint. They met when Beatriz, Hernandez's wife was going to the same school as Montero. Gerardo Mondragon also began within a week of Hernandez and was a close associate of his.
Luis "El Mexican" took the medium to the West Coast and was a close friend of Ricardo Ponce. Ponce later teamed up with Montero in New Orleans under the cangogh moniker.
There were two Luises who came out of Mexico city around this time. The other was known as "El Luigi"
I went to Mexico City August 7-11 & October 17-20 2008 to interview five prominent painters as well as Jose Luis Cuevas who was the sponser of AMPA (Asociacion Mexicana de Pintores en Aerosol) the first organized group of Spray Can Artists in Mexico City.

Ricardo Huet a close associate and confidant of Sadot in the late '80s (Husband of Cecilia Banos) met me in Mexico City both times to offer his support and vast knowledge of the history and technique. Huet was part of the "Bohemian" group of artists, along with Gerrardo Amor who moved to Puerto Vallarta and continued the practice of painting in the street under the label "Aeropintura"

Any questions? Be in touch at:
aerosologist@hotmail.com or Spectramist@hotmail.com