Mural by Ricardo Gouveia

The artist you know as Ricardo Gouveia is widely recognized in San Francisco under his professional alias, Rigo 23. Born on the island of Madeira in Portugal, he arrived in the city in 1985 and became a defining figure in the local art scene, particularly within the South of Market neighborhood. He famously adopted a naming convention that incorporated the last two digits of the year into his pseudonym for nearly two decades, finally settling on the number twenty-three in 2003. His murals in this area often utilize the visual language of official street signs to communicate deeper messages about identity, housing, and social justice. These large-scale, graphic works are designed to be legible from a distance, frequently appearing as permanent fixtures of the urban landscape that challenge passersby to reconsider the stories embedded in their surroundings.