André Saraiva was born on 2 July 1971[2] in Uppsala, Sweden, where his Portuguese parents had fled the military regime of Salazar.

[4] In 1986, André started tagging a top-hatted, stick figure character by the name of Mr. A on the streets of Paris, which earned him a reputation as a renowned graffiti artist.

In 1997, he sold his paintings in a shop in Paris, from which he was spotted by Japanese patrons that brought him to the art scene of Tokyo.

In 2002, he opened the concept store "BlackBlock" in Paris at Palais de Tokyo; a creation around which he organized concerts, parades and other performances, and whose profits were reinvested in new projects art.

[7] In 2014, a solo retrospective dedicated to his work was held at the Museu do Design e da Moda in Lisbon.

[9][10][11] Besides being a graffiti artist, André has served as the creative director and owner of clubs, hotels and restaurants in Paris, Tokyo, London, Los Angeles, New York City, Shanghai and St.

[14] On 1 April 2015 André was fined for vandalizing a boulder in Joshua Tree National Park, California.