Gerardo Picado, better known as Mr. Masking, has devoted his life to hand-paint signs in the city. "Don Gerardo" takes the bus every morning from his house heading to downtown San Jose. On his way there, he's always looking out the window to see if there are new stores -no matter which kind- to apply his technique and to help them communicate who they are and what they do. Restaurants, beauty shops, convenience stores, bars, karaokes, parking lots, and even people have been, and still are, the places on which Gerardo Picado works on.
In 2009, Alfredo (Pupila's partner) realized that, contrary to what most hand-painted signs showed, in Mr. Masking's work there was a typeface. A font that, although not really aware of it, he has created and that he was using on every single sign he was working on. Mr. Masking was the owner of a very powerful visual language. And this language itself was taking on the city; yet the city didn't know who Mr. Masking was, all everyone knew was his "artist name". Alfredo's discovery then became an obsession and a few years later, with the help of Karina Salguero-Moya and Jose Tenorio, the artist behind all this work is found. A few months later his work is exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary Art and Design.
During the fifth edition of the International Design Festival of Costa Rica, Mr. Masking's book is launched. This publication seeks to tell his story, document his work, and also be a tribute to the person we considered to be the first typographer of Costa Rica.
Gerardo Picado, mejor conocido como Mr. Masking, ha dedicado gran parte de su vida a rotular la ciudad. Don Gerardo sale cada mañana en bus hacia San José y, de camino, se fija si existen nuevos comercios, sin importar el tipo, para aplicar su técnica y ayudarles a comunicar lo que son y/o lo que hacen. Sodas, salones de belleza, tiendas, bares, karaokes, parqueos, e incluso personas han sido y son, hasta ahora, lienzos donde el gran Gerardo Picado imprime su obra.
En el 2009, Alfredo (socio de Pupila Estudio) se dio cuenta de que, a diferencia de la gran mayoría de rotuladores a mano alzada, Mr. Masking era dueño de una tipografía. Una tipografía que él, sin darse cuenta, había creado, y que se repetía en todos los rótulos donde trabajaba. Mr. Masking era dueño de un lenguaje visual que, a su vez, se iba apropiando del imaginario vernacular de la ciudad. La ciudad, sin embargo, no sabía quién era Mr. Masking, ya que de él sólo se conocía el apodo. El descubrimiento se convierte en obsesión y luego de unos años, con la ayuda de Karina Salguero-Moya y Jose Tenorio, se logra a dar con Mr. Masking. Meses después su trabajo es expuesto en el Museo de Arte y Diseño Contemporáneo, como parte de la exhibición D'aquí lo nuestro.
En la quinta edición del Festival Internacional de Diseño de Costa Rica se lanza el libro; una publicación que busca contar su historia, preservar su obra y rendirle tributo al que consideramos el primer tipógrafo de Costa Rica.
