Francisco "Twick" Aquino

Artist Statement

"My destiny chose me through a spray can. Over the last forty years, I’ve watched the Bay Area's landscape shift, but my mission has remained the same: to show the youth that graffiti isn't just about writing your name on a wall—it is a powerful tool to carry a message, claim your space, and heal a community."

Biography

Francisco “Twick” Aquino is a legendary Salvadoran-American graffiti artist and muralist who has spent over four decades serving as a vital pillar of the San Francisco street art scene. Born in El Salvador, Twick immigrated to San Francisco’s Mission District with his family at just three years old, arriving during a major wave of Latin American migration that forever shaped the cultural fabric of the city.

Growing up in the Mission during the early 1980s, Twick was initially exposed to the heavy gang environment of the era and the sharp, calligraphic lines of Cholo/Chicano gang writing. However, in 1983, the arrival of hip-hop culture completely reoriented his life. Finding immediate direction, identity, and discipline in the spray can, he traded the destructive path of the streets for the grueling mastery of graffiti art.

As a core member of legendary foundational crews like ICP (Inner City Phame), Twick spent the 1980s and 1990s painting high-stakes transit lines, tunnels, and iconic, now-lost street art havens like Psycho City. Heavily influenced by the late, revolutionary Oakland graffiti martyr Mike Dream, Twick realized that graffiti could carry immense political, spiritual, and cultural weight. Over the decades, he evolved his style from raw wildstyle lettering into a deeply spiritual fusion of contemporary urban graffiti and ancestral Central American iconography.

Today, Twick treats the concrete landscape of the Bay Area as a living archive for the diaspora. His work acts as a radical act of cultural preservation, placing Indigenous royalty, traditional warriors, and sacred animal spirits boldly into a rapidly changing public square. Beyond his personal painting, Twick is a dedicated community educator. Partnering with initiatives like the SF Arts Commission’s Streetsmarts program, he transforms frequently vandalized spaces into stunning community landmarks while mentoring at-risk youth—using the discipline of the aerosol can to guide the next generation away from violence and toward creative reclamation.

Style & Technical Attributes

• Ancestral Wildstyle: A seamless synthesis of razor-sharp, traditional Bay Area wildstyle graffiti lettering with ancient Mayan and Aztec iconography.

• Cultural Reclamation: Heavy focus on bringing hidden Central American history, indigenous imagery, and spiritual archetypes into the modern urban landscape.

• Mediums: Master-level aerosol application on large-scale public brick, concrete, and wood mediums, as well as fine art canvas work and historic apparel collaborations.

Francisco “Twick” Aquino

Graffiti Pioneer, Muralist, & Cultural Preservationist

Active Since: 1983

Location: San Francisco, CA (The Mission District)

Crews: ICP (Inner City Phame), FSC

📞 Art Purchases & Mural Inquiries

For original artwork sales, commissions, or custom large-scale public and private murals, contact directly:

• Phone: +1 (415) 745-4606