Robert Herrera Eyes the Net

By Rick Brown
Robert Herrera, an East Austin graffiti artist, says he's not sure what goes on at the Multi-Media Cafe, where he's finishing up a commission to embellish inside and outside walls with his artwork.

In many ways the 25-year-old Herrera represents a primary target audience of the cafe. He's young and talented - witness his work on three walls at the Holly Street Power Plant - but he's not especially savvy to the emerging ways of the Net.

That hasn't stopped him from seeking new outlets for his art, however, including distribution over the Internet, of which he has a vague understanding.

He's working with a friend to obtain a grant that could make electronic distribution easier, but he's still in the investigative stages of the technology itself. "I may be successful, but I'm damn near broke," he said, explaining why it's been slow going.

Robert said he started his life's work initially out of boredom in math class. "I never did my math work and always seemed to be drawing," he said. That ultimately led to his taking up a spray can and achieving a certain local reknown as a graffiti artist.

Now he's branching out into brush work, but it's a difficult transition. He can cover a 10-foot-by-20-foot wall with spray paint in about eight hours, he estimates, but the same wall with a brush can take a week.

Visitors to the Multi-Media Cafe can see Robert's creations outside under the silver metal pyramid. Inside, he is represented on several walls.

Ultimately, Robert says, he "would like just to be remembered." He may reach that goal on a mass scale, but his success could hinge on how well he exploits the emerging technology that he is only beginning to understand.