Bio

Nelson Selek (Caguas, Puerto Rico, 1983) is a visual and graffiti artist whose pictorial work emerges from the intersection of spontaneous gesture and structured composition. Through the appropriation and reconfiguration of urban traces, fragments, and textures, he creates images that reveal an aesthetic of the accidental.

His practice began in the early 2000s within the graffiti scene as a member of the COA collective. In 2005, he participated in the Meeting of Styles in Europe, and since then, he has painted in cities including Berlin, New York, San Francisco, and Toronto. He is an active member of the ADM collective and co-founder of the Feliz x Siempre Studio, established in 2019.

His work has been featured in publications such as Graffiti Planet 1, 4am, and Graffiti and Street Art Around the Globe, as well as on various international digital platforms. His style synthesizes references to modernist abstraction with the raw energy and visual language of graffiti, expanding its grammar into new pictorial modes.

Selek works with analog collages, which he subsequently digitizes, manipulates, and transfers onto canvas, preserving the initial energy while refining the composition. This methodology, oscillating between intuition and analysis, transforms error and fragmentation into creative tools.

His work proposes an active perceptual experience, informed by Gestalt theory and visual neuroscience, in which the viewer reconstructs meaning from the fragmentary. Each piece serves as a space for transformation, inviting a reconsideration of how we organize and give form to an image.


Statement

My practice investigates the tension between chance and structure, seeking new ways to perceive reality through color, fragmentation, and composition. I am drawn to the beauty that emerges from the unexpected—found in urban remnants, accidental imagery, or spontaneous gestures. I collect, deconstruct, and reconfigure these fragments until they reveal a new order, imbued with visual energy and poetic significance.

Graffiti serves as a foundational influence. Rather than translating it literally, I break it down and recontextualize it as a legitimate pictorial language, expanding its aesthetic and conceptual possibilities. My process is hybrid: it navigates the space between the digital and the manual, between intuition and structure. I begin with a visual archive of marks, textures, drawings, and urban discoveries, which I digitize, edit, and synthesize. I then translate this imagery back into the physical realm using spray paint, acrylic, or pastel, experimenting with layers and contrasts.

Color and composition are the axes of my work. I explore combinations that balance energy, intensity, and visual harmony. My aim is to evoke sensations and generate experiences that invite the viewer to observe from a new perspective, entering a space where perception, intuition, and memory intertwine.

Conceptually, my work engages with Gestalt psychology, neuroscience, and the nature of consciousness as a visual construct. I operate on the premise that the mind organizes chaos, actively seeking patterns and creating meaning from the fragmented.

While my background is rooted in graffiti and graphic design, my practice maintains a dialogue with Abstract Expressionism, Constructivism, the Bauhaus, and digital art. Essentially, my work is an unconventional visual journey—a continuous exploration of new possibilities within my artistic language.

SOLO EXHIBITION

2026

The Shape of Chaos, Feliz x Siempre Studio, 161 Calle Guayama esq. Calle España Hato Rey, San Juan, Puerto Rico.

2023

InnerSpace, Instituto de Subcultura, Calle Cerra, San Juan, Puerto Rico.


GROUP EXHIBITION (SELECTED)

2025

The Super show vol.1, scope Miami Beach, booth A09 Galeria Playera

Writers Edition, PR and FRIENDS II, Elegel 2.0 at SPOT,  San Juan, Puerto Rico.

The Power of Pink, estUdio House, Puerto Rico and Connecticut, USA.

2024

Mini Gallery Pop-up, From Pop to Opera, Coqui Charities, Spot, Centro de bellas artes de Humacao, Puerto Rico. 

The Super Show,Galeria Player, San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Open studio, Feliz x Siempre Studio, Arthop week Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Yokai Gallery, Puerto Rico Fashion Week por Expo Moda, Kangrip Studio & Lightning LLC, en Caguas, Puerto Rico.

2023

Color Caribe 3, Art Festival, Dorado, Puerto Rico.

This is not Graffiti, Feliz x Siempre Studio, Spot Urban contemporary gallery, Calle Loiza, San Juan, Puerto Rico.

La Unión, Instituto de Subcultura,San Juan, Puerto Rico.

2021

GLITCH: [RE]ANIMATION POST PANDEMIC WORLD, Le Fabric, San Juan, Puerto Rico.

2020

Writers Joint, Aguadilla, Puerto Rico.

2019

Style Discipline Gallery Show, Walter Otero Contemporary Gallery (WOCA), San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Hip Hop en el centro,  Humacao, Puerto Rico.

GLITCH SEASON 2 , Pública Espacio, San Juan, Puerto Rico.

2017

Juego De Letras, Espacio Minerva, San Juan, Puerto Rico.

2007

Espacio Disponible, Museo de Arte Caribbean University (MACU), Bayamón, Puerto  Rico 

2006

Returned Mail, Candela, San Juan, Puerto Rico.

2005

Crimen o Arte (COA), Área: lugar de proyectos, Caguas, Puerto Rico.


EDUCATION

2007

B.A. in Graphic Design, Atlantic College, Guaynabo, Puerto Rico.

Associate Degree in Graphic Design, The Art Institute of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, USA.


STREET ART & GRAFFITI FESTIVALS (SELECTED)

2023

Santurce es Ley 8, Urban Art Fest, San Juan, Puerto Rico.

2005 – 2007

Meeting of Styles, International editions in New York (USA), Montreal (Canada), Germany, Switzerland, and Italy.


COLLECTIONS

Private Collection, Chu Family (Hong Kong, China).

Private Collection, Galíndez Family (Connecticut, USA).

Private Collection, Figueroa Family (San Juan, Puerto Rico).

Private Collection, Maduro Family (San Juan, Puerto Rico).

Private Collection, Méndez-Benabe Family (San Juan, Puerto Rico).

Private Collection, Vallejo Family (San Juan, Puerto Rico).

Private Collection, Torres Family (San Juan, Puerto Rico).

Private Collection, Busquet Family (San Juan, Puerto Rico).

Private Collection, Rodríguez-Evans Family (San Juan, Puerto Rico).

Private Collection, Gorritz Family (San Juan, Puerto Rico).

Private Collection, Skills Family (Bayamón, Puerto Rico).

Private Collection, Fermaintt Family (Bayamón, Puerto Rico).

Private Collection, Busigo Family (Caguas, Puerto Rico).


MEMBERSHIPS & ORGANIZATIONS

MEMBERSHIPS & ORGANIZATIONS

President, Feliz x Siempre Collective (2019–Present).

Active Member, ADMcru (2008–Present).