What Made Me
Ricky “Rico” Heeraman was born into the mecca of graffiti culture in the heart of the Bronx, NY. Later on in life he moved to Paterson, NJ in which both of his urban city upbringing influences a lot of his artwork. Growing up in inner cities not too many creative opportunities presents itself to the youth’s in the community. Ricky grew up capturing & pursuing the art that surrounded him in his environment in which majority of it was Graffiti. On his everyday walks to & from school, there would be Writers, “bombing” the streets with their Graffiti aliases. Ricky would observe, the colors, the font styles, can control, etc. You can say that pretty much that was the beginning of “Rico”. Ricky grew up influenced by art, & drawing every chance he got with his friends during school. However, he never had the chance to go to Art school, or major in an Art degree. All of his artistic skills are self-taught through experience acquired over the years along with many trial & errors. Even till today, his styles & techniques are still developing, & taking new forms & shapes.
​
Seeing, that Ricky knew his potential & didn’t want to live life with regrets, he doubled down & risked it all after graduating college. He left 2 of his full time jobs to pursuit his art career back in 2016. Having NO art education, NO art connects or network, NO art colleagues, NO art manager/representation, Ricky put both feet on the ground and took off running, letting his artwork & hustle speak for itself. Spending countless hours & days reaching out to business, hotels, restaurants, galleries, etc. Ricky landed his first major job, which was a mural at Jue Lan Club in 2018. Ever since 2018 his career took off, landing him into places, & people he can only imagine of working with as a young boy.
​
Ricky has completed many murals for restaurants in NYC & NJ area. Participated in solo & group exhibitions across the country, including exhibits down in Miami Art Basel. Ricky has accomplished exhibiting at multiple Solo shows. His murals can also be found in some of the most popular music record label offices, and entertainment offices. Ricky has partnered & collaborated with some of the most prestigious brands today in pop culture. Every year, he participates in multiple charities to benefit the youth, including a charity fundraiser held annually on Wall St at the New York Stock Exchange. Where every year Ricky donates a painting to be auctioned off & 100% of the proceeds are donated to benefit & aid the youth.
​
It’s astonishing to see what Ricky has accomplished over the years from making some of the biggest risks & sacrifices. Over the years he’s had many doubters and non-believers of his success, even those who were very close to him. But yet, he uses it as fuel to continue fighting everyday to become legendary & leave a name behind for him & his family. He fights till this day to show the same boys & girls that come from the same neighborhoods he came from, that there’s more to life than what “society” tells you to do. Ricky is living proof that you can be what you want to be, make your happiness a priority. When you do something you love, you’re never working; you’re living & having fun.
