David Villorente, better known as Chino BYI, is an American old-school

graffiti artist Graffiti (singular ''graffiti'', or ''graffito'' only in Graffito (archaeology), graffiti archeology) is writing or drawings made on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from simple writte ...

and

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

of classic graffiti who is based in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

. He is well-known for his letter designs and is referred to as a legend in the Brooklyn graffiti scene. He was part of the Brooklyn based graffiti crew Beyond Your Imagination (BYI), which was active from the mid-1980s to the late 1980s and included membership by TRIM, ATCO, TRECH, CHINO, TRACK aka TE KAY, SCOTCH 79 aka KEO, SAST and others. He has released four books on graffiti, including a book with

Sacha Jenkins Sacha Sebastian Jenkins (August 22, 1971 – May 23, 2025) was an American television producer, filmmaker, writer, musician, artist, curator, and chronicler of hip-hop, graffiti, punk, and metal cultures. While still in his teens, Jenkins publi ...

entitled ''World PieceBook: Global Graffiti Drawings'' (2011)''.'' He participated in painting murals for the Nike NYC Garage in 2018 among other events. For over a decade Chino was the editor of ''

The Source The Source may refer to: Film and television * ''The Source'' (1918 film), 1918 American drama directed by George Melford * ''The Source'' (1999 film), a 1999 documentary film about the Beat generation * ''The Source'' (2002 film), a 2002 scienc ...

'' magazine's graffiti section.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:BYI, Chino Living people Art in New York City American graffiti artists Year of birth missing (living people)