Today we’d like to introduce you to Johnny Muñoz.
Hi Johnny, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today.
I’m a border town-born, Austin native, and Houston enthusiast who got his art journey started as a young boy. During the summers of my childhood, I would spend them with my grandparents in a little border town called Eagle Pass. There I met a friend who had me in awe with his artwork and from that moment I knew I wanted to be an artist. His styles and creativity truly inspired me with his graffiti-style letters and even more impressive his stylized characters. Enamored by this I began to draw endlessly trying to become a talented artist just like my friend. Pre-internet days I relied heavily on graffiti and lowrider books my uncle and friends would get and shows like Dragonball Z, Gundam Wing, and most of the early 90s and 2000’s cartoon shows were heavy influences. As I got older and the prospect of what I would become in the future became heavier and heavier and my parents like most parents, wanted their child to succeed. Coming from an era before the technological revolution, which has allowed art to become a viable career, success meant that a degree was a must and in particular one in a STEM field. I hold no resentment toward that and I love my parents very much and have always supported me even when they did not agree. However, once I became a senior in high school, what I was going to do after was very real, and understandably, a successful art career was a lofty dream and my art skills lacked practice and mental maturity. I would go on to go to school and go through corporate jobs always doodling along the way. One summer, hanging out with a friend, he recommended that we go to Castle Hill.
I had heard about the place in passing and that it was a graffiti park. When I arrived, I instantly was in awe, flooded by every emotion, nostalgia, opportunity, regret, joy, etc. I was looking at an artist’s playground and it unlocked what I had suppressed for years. I began going every day and gaining more and more confidence, developing technique, playing with ideas, and wanting to bring something cool for the tourists to see so I could prove that I could hang with the big boys. After some years and rumored battles with the city due, the owner was forced to shut down what was such an awesome place of artistic freedom in the inner city of a budding Austin. With that gone, and no place to go to network and show off my artistic ability, I was forced to find other ways and that was through murals for people. I began using my network and my small portfolio of large art I had done at Castle Hill, I slowly began marketing myself and the jobs came in. Being from Austin and seeing what it has become, the once street art culture that Austin used to have, slowly got washed out, favoring cute/witty sayings and flowers. That is when I began to expand myself and felt that going to Houston which from my experience, loved street art and seeing how popular street art has become in general, I knew I had to go to Houston.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
Like anything in life, heck, life itself, there will always be bumps in the road. Having to do things you don’t generally like and in a perfect world would not be doing just to survive was the first struggle. The “9-5” grind for one was a struggle, waking up to do a job that you have more negative than positive things to say about it really does something to the spirit. It agitates it and when you get home you’re uninspired, unmotivated, tired, and have to wake up to it again. No disrespect to the “9-5” as it is necessary, generally more secure, and overall good for society, however, it’s just terrible for creativity and those who seek inspiration for art, in my opinion. After my first major mural gig, I thought for sure the gigs would be rolling in and it would be the start of a new life. Well, it didn’t happen and I found that getting your art out there is harder than it seems especially for the time art is not as subjective as you would want to believe but if people are going to want to pay money for it then you better know what you are doing. So during my “9-5” and free time, I would doodle and this time doodle for a purpose to create ideas I could paint whether a mural or canvas.
I started to gain some good momentum by doing canvas art for people but then COVID hit. For almost any other artist, COVID was the perfect time for art, and even those who didn’t previously pick up art to pass time for 2 years, however, my situation was a little different. In the months leading up to the COVID lockdowns in 2020, I was diagnosed with testicular cancer. During lockdowns, I was in and out with surgeries and chemotherapy. This was a tough time because I was not very inspired, sluggish, and weak. There were moments when I would try to really paint but it would exhaust me almost immediately. After a year post-chemo, and the side effects were less apparent, I really began to reemerge with new vitality and confidence.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
For 8 years I worked in Pharmaceutical research, moving my way up the corporate ladder, then after getting laid off I moved to the tech industry where I worked in IP rights. I held a managerial position where I was a manager, coach, career counselor, and mentor to 15 agents. I really enjoyed having a team and being a leader who lead by example and understood the grind and struggles they would face and came to work with enthusiasm no matter what my personal situation was.
A lot that set me apart from others was my creativity and ability to understand and explain concepts in interesting and engaging ways. Due to recent instability in the markets and in particular the tech industry, I was part of a massive layoff that has rendered me unemployed, and currently working full-time to become a full-time artist.
What matters most to you?
What matters most to me is my God and what matters second is my integrity.
For so long as I maintain an ethical and moral standard that instills love and trust and maintain my integrity in that pursuit then I can sleep peacefully knowing that I acted in a way that is acceptable to my values.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: instagram.com/ogjohnny23
