TIMELINE 2006 - 2026
My grandpa John Dick is the man behind KIWIE, and since around 2006 he’s been relentlessly painting the same pudgy, toothy creature everywhere. Grandpa clearly suffers from “monomania” - painting the same THING over and over, convinced it will one day make sense. In the process, the KIWIE Monster has become a bit of a global citizen, popping up on walls, streets, and other mediums all around the world. So here’s a quick rundown of what my grandpa’s been up to for the last 20 years.
2006
It was the year Grandpa came up with the KIWIE monster. Actually the records show it was late 2005, around October or November. He said it was his response to bullies who kept painting over his works. Yes, Grandpa painted different things before KIWIE came along - I was surprised too. Before KIWIE there was SOFTI, and as I understand it, KIWIE was meant to be the same character, but evolved in its final form with big belly, mega teeth. The design was made to be painted over the bullies’ works, creating the effect of the monster eating their tags, bombs, or whatever else they were painting.
2007
I couldn’t find any instances where Grandpa actually painted over somebody else’s work, but it’s clear he went on a rampage that year. From the photo timestamps I dug up, sometimes he would go out painting for three nights in a row, sleep all day, then wake up at dusk to continue his quest. That’s how committed he was to painting more. Nobody knows why. In the middle of this frenzy, he went to Paris for the first time to paint at a school event. I guess some teachers there fancied him. I remember stories about him painting at night in Paris and losing his keys, so he slept on a doormat - nothing unusual here. He also took part in the local Baltic Graffiti Festival 2007, the Candy Bomber Exhibition at Arsenāls, and managed to sneak into various underground events like SDM [Stupid Dance Music] in Kandava, where he painted multiple walls while the party was in full swing and people had to evacuate outside because of the paint fumes, and Grandpa’s Garage in Andrejsala, hosted by Dirty Deal. At the end of the year, together with artist AMC, he hosted his first-ever exhibition, Mind Infection, featuring recently painted artworks.
2008
At this point, Grandpa discovered the Internet. He started posting pictures online, they gained some traction, and soon he was invited to visit France again. This time he joined fellow artists from all around the world to live in the mountains for a while, make art, calm down, and meditate. It didn’t help. He came back with a gorilla mask he found in the mountains and was even more hyped to paint. Together with his sketchy friends, he took part in Latvia’s first-ever Write for Gold 2008 graffiti festival. Then he zipped off to Poland, where he painted a tunnel in Białystok, before returning straight into Positivus Festival 2008. Rumor has it he slept in a tent, using boxes of spray paint as a mattress - some serious acupressure practice.
2009
Grandpa kept traveling as if there were no way back. He visited Berlin and Frankfurt, and even managed to sneak into Meeting of Styles Wiesbaden 2009. That trip sparked an idea: to create the biggest street art and graffiti exhibition Latvia had ever seen. So, together with his imaginary friends, SAKI and AMC, he built the exhibition “BENEATH” in the heart of Old Riga at Art Space Riga. Curators later claimed the opening broke all attendance records. I found pictures of John asleep at the opening, clutching a bunch of flowers. I guess the preparations had been… intense.
2010
While painting every wall he could get his hands on, John fell in love with Poland. Not sure if he fell, or if someone in Poland fell for him - either way, they kept inviting him back. In the archives, I also found photos of him hanging out with some German guys who came up with the project "Paint Club" - a competition where young artists freestyle-battled on canvases. I have no idea what Grandpa promised them, but somehow they handed him full rights to run Paint Club Latvia. No rest for the wicked - he also organized the Canyon Graffiti Festival, where people could bring their cars to be painted by local artists. Grandpa said someone almost brought a tank, but since it was snowing that morning, it was too risky to drive - Grandpa might have slid into a ditch as he was promised to drive it.
2011
Grandpa got heavily involved in the underground electronic music scene. He and some guys he met at a random street party came up with the idea to combine street art with bass and founded “SULA”. The logo was a square orange. Makes sense. It was basically him and a bunch of guys organizing underground events themed around contemporary street art vibes mixed with electronic bass. With this “square orange” team, he went to Denmark. If you ask me, I think it was just a cover story to travel more and paint more walls on the side. After that, he set off to explore Lithuania - the land of our Baltic siblings. There, he met Trexus and Egle, two local artists he wouldn’t stop talking about for months. He mumbled constantly about Banana Jesus, whatever that was. He came back… not the same. Then he was off to Barcelona where, judging by the pictures I found, he was either constantly drunk or just forgot how to use a camera. And of course, the year wouldn’t have been complete without a trip to Poland. This time, he went with a bunch of guys from Latvia and painted a wall at a prison in Białystok. Together with the prisoners.
2012
It was time for the mighty UK to meet John. He went over, painted some walls with his imaginary friend SAKI, and when he got back, he received a message from the owner of a boat docked in Wales. Apparently, the boss-man had seen Grandpa’s monsters in the UK and wanted something similar on his ship. It turned out to be a legendary cruise liner fun-ship "Duke on Lancaster". So Grandpa spray-painted both sides of the liner. As it turned out, the ship had been built by the same folks who built the Titanic. Grandpa even snuck inside, despite it being strictly prohibited, but John is very bad at reading any signs. So by entering the ship he was wondering where everybody had gone as the dishes were still sitting on the tables. After that, he visited Berlin again, and the trip inspired him to put together a new exhibition, “Steal Me!” - where people could literally steal his artworks. Yet another great business plan. When visitors entered the exhibition room, they found it empty. The entire show had been scattered throughout the streets. Guests were given maps, and anyone who reached the artworks first could take them. Of course, all the guys who came with bikes grabbed everything before anyone else even got a chance, so most people just wandered around searching for non-existent pieces. It was probably the first - and only - exhibition in Latvia where every artwork was stolen in less than an hour.
2013
Grandpa painted "GRAY RAINBOW" - Latvia’s first large scale spray-painted mural, measuring 250 square meters and towering 22 meters high. To make things even more complex, Grandpa’s mural was part of the Gray Rainbow exhibition he managed by himself, which took place simultaneously in five countries: Latvia, Germany, Estonia, Poland, and France. Obviously another cover-up, just to travel more. By the way - thanks to this artwork, the Latvian government changed the rules for documentation and permits required to paint large-scale art. Before that, anyone could pretty much do whatever they pleased on their building’s walls, as long as it didn’t face the street. Now… not so much. And now you know why. But of course, that wasn’t enough. That same year, Grandpa launched a scavenger hunt called “BREAK GLASS”, where people had to track down boxes with T-shirts inside - break the glass, and the shirt was yours. Another great business idea by John. To round out the year, he went to Estonia to participate in “BALTIC SESSION 2013”, painting a collaborative piece at Telliskivi with TAD CREW, Zmog, Truba, and Trun.
2014
Then he tackled “SAULE, PĒRKONS UN DAUGAVA” mural together with Dainis Rudens and Ēriks Caune. At the time, it was the largest graffiti mural in the Baltics - about 800 square meters of wall in Riga. They painted authentic Latvian folk motifs, burning through more than 1000 spray cans over twenty days. Grandpa said he snuck in a small KIWIE monster at the top of the wall. Invisible from the bottom, but it’s there. After completing the mural, with no explanation, Grandpa flew to Dubai and stayed there for a while. I have no idea what exactly he was doing there, but I found footage of him painting a wall in Ski Dubai and running around with real penguins. When he came back, he organized another exhibition - this time a bit of a performance piece called “Street Noise”. There was a rave with around 1000 people, and at the highlight of the night, Grandpa smuggled in about 100 spray cans, handed them out to random partygoers, and suddenly everyone started tagging the walls. The venue was bombarded with tags and slogans - hence the name “Street Noise”. And that was Grandpa’s final artwork. Here is a video if you fancy see the damage. Maybe you were there?
2015
Grandpa took a two-week nap and then went right back to traveling. He returned to Dubai again, this time for a longer stay. He mentioned something about a wind-tunnel painting. Anyway, while there, he took part in the world’s longest graffiti scroll, U43 - a 2.18 km long surface painted by artists from all over the world. As far as I can tell, Grandpa wasn’t officially invited; he just smuggled in with his spray cans and painted wherever he wanted without asking permission. Classic. Right after, he was invited to the Street Life Festival in Limassol, Cyprus, where he painted a huge collaborative piece with French artist Zabou. When he got back from sunny Cyprus, Grandpa was still buzzing with energy and finally managed to launch his first proper website. Before that, it was always “thekiwie.com.” For years, he’d been stalking the clean “kiwie.com” domain in the middle of the night, but it was never available. Then, suddenly, it was up for grabs for only 500 EUR. Perfect timing - because a few weeks earlier, someone had hacked his PayPal account and accidentally sent him 500 EUR. He changed the password, the money stayed, and PayPal support never responded. So he used the funds to secure the domain he’d always wanted.
2016
Without delay, Grandpa went straight from Dubai on a spray-cation to Cyprus again for the Street Life Festival 2016. I couldn’t find many pictures from this trip - it could be he’s hiding something in Cyprus and deleted all the evidence. When I asked why there were so few photos, he said his phone was “hackeredred.” I don’t think that’s actually a word. Immediately after, he disappeared to Bali, Indonesia. I guess the Bali vibes inspired him to celebrate ten years of the KIWIE Monster. Wanting to thank all his followers who had been making fan art and growing Grandpa’s FanArt collection, he returned to Riga and put together the exhibition "MIMIK" at Riga Art Space - the same place where BENEATH was held, only this time three times bigger. It broke the opening-night attendance record yet again. Not that I’m an expert, but I think it had something to do with the fact that the opening night just happened to fall on the same day as massive celebrations in the city.
2017
After the intense celebrations, John slipped into chill mode to stabilize his blood pressure and calm the hell down. Fresh out of rehab, he went to France with his apprentice VOUR to paint a mural in Grand Champ. The whole town showed up to watch John at work. I even found a video of John randomly milking a cow and flipping pancakes for breakfast at some unknown ladies house. Around the same time, he got a call from VANS Shoes Europe asking for a collaboration. Grandpa agreed, and his idea was to nail the shoes straight onto the canvas and paint all over them. After the collection launch, he went back to Cyprus. At this point, I suspect they’ve probably given him a resident’s passport… and maybe even another family.
2018
Grandpa went on another rampage, traveling across countries and painting every wall he could find. First, he hit Portugal, where I counted around twenty new artworks across the streets of Porto - about three to four pieces per day. Then he headed to Barcelona - same story. After that, he landed in Liverpool, United Kingdom, where he teamed up with Monami Frost to design and paint the first vegan burger joint, Frost Burgers. Shortly after returning home, he pulled together the first serious collection of new KIWIE accessories "KIWIE TURBO". One of his long-time dreams was to create bubble gums with KIWIE stickers inside. Since no bubble gum company responded, he did it himself - bought 1,000 Turbo bubble gums, rewrapped them in his own custom-designed paper, and yes, slipped stickers inside. During the process, he even made a street piece in broad daylight by chewing the gum and sticking it to a wall in the shape of a KIWIE monster. Here is more about the whole process.
2019
Thanks to the bubble gum collection, Grandpa was invited to join a group exhibition in Amsterdam "28 Stars". Naturally, while there, he painted every wall in sight. Right afterward, he went - yet again - to Cyprus for the Street Life Festival 2019, this time with his apprentice VOUR. Apparently somebody had to keep an eye on him. As it turns out, grandpa disappeared somewhere in Cyprus for multiple days, so VOUR had to get a local to help painting the artwork. At this point, I’m sure he has another family there. Then he headed to Vietnam, where - of course - he repainted an entire neighbourhood. I even found photos from a fan art contest he launched: people sent in KIWIE fan art sketches, and he picked one to paint on a real wall somewhere in Ho Chi Minh City. On his way back home, he somehow “accidentally” traveled to Bali. No idea how that could happen by accident - maybe he just boarded the wrong plane and nobody questioned it. While in Bali searching his bike in the rice fields, he came up with the concept for what could become a streetwear brand.
2020
It was during lockdown that Grandpa completely lost his marbles. Out of sheer boredom, he decided it was time to become a fashion mogul and launched his own streetwear brand: Kiwie Bureau of Investigation [KBI]. I’m sure it was because he binge watched true crime series on Netflix. The concept? By experimenting with some questionable substances in his studio, by accident KIWIE monster became alive, escaped the studio trough a wall. Here you can see a video right after the blast. So, the monster is now rampaging through the city causing serious damage. Each new drop of accessories is essentially a fresh crime scene, with KIWIE leaving chaos in his wake. The KBI agents are on his trail, and John is determined to catch him to save his life before KBI do. And so the story continues. That entire year, Grandpa worked solely on KBI collections. I kept checking in, mostly to make sure he was drinking enough water - because honestly, I was afraid he might pass out from doing it all by himself.
2021
During the pandemic, Grandpa met some Crypto Bros and decided to merge street art with blockchain. The result? KIWIE 1001 - NFTs linked to real-world monster artworks scattered across the globe. Each NFT was geotagged to its corresponding mural - because why just paint a wall when you can also mint it on the blockchain and confuse two completely different audiences at once? Another flawless business plan by John. Out of the 1001 planned locations, he managed to paint only 56. Turns out… it wasn’t exactly the most profitable venture. Still, in the middle of the craze, Grandpa pulled off Europe’s first official NFT public showroom - which, naturally, he covered entirely in paint. And, against all odds, sold artworks to Latvia’s biggest art collector.
2022
But the whole crypto shenanigan did spark new ideas. Grandpa got invited to Dubai Expo 2020 to represent Latvia, talking about NFTs and the oddball concept of KIWIE 1001. After a trip to New York, he came back so inspired by Takashi Murakami that he founded KIWIE STUDIO in Riga - together with a few kids he met on Discord. A space that was part laboratory, part creative sanctuary. Somehow, he even convinced Citadele Bank to launch KIWIE Visa cards, designed using artificial neural networks and Python code. Whatever that means. To celebrate the launch, John completely repainted KIWIE SPACE in collaboration with LG, which ended up being selected as one of LG’s most creative projects . An official from Korea even came in person to see it. As if that wasn’t enough, Grandpa also designed the digital awards for Latvia’s Grammys, the Zelta Mikrofons. Probably unnecessary, but at least the animations looked somewhat cool.
2023
The entire year, Grandpa and the Discord kids kept busy building the studio and diving into even bigger projects like the ZEEVERSE GAME. Somehow, even Saudi government officials managed to find Grandpa’s email and invited him to work on “design stuff.” Whenever I ask what exactly they did there, he gives me a different answer. My guess the NDAs are strong there.
2024
Grandpa teamed up with freestyle roller-skating world champion Nils Jansons to design custom ROCES roller skates. The job was simply pick up some markers and do some doodles on the skates. But after just one brainstorm session, things escalated - they ended up painting an entire airfield, accidentally creating the world’s largest PEACE artwork. Around the same time, Grandpa made some calls and somehow convinced Porsche Europe that he needed to star in their new Macan ad. Which he did. He also managed to land collaborations with Adidas and Wolt, seemingly just by existing. That’s when I decided to start documenting everything Grandpa was up to. Hence, he now has a brand-new TikTok account.
2025
And because Grandpa can’t sit still when he’s awake, he founded KIWIE FNDN, a foundation dedicated to supporting young artists. He even moved his painting studio closer to the main HQ so he could produce more work, sell it, and funnel the proceeds back to artists in need. On top of that, he kicked off a tour across Latvia, painting large-scale artworks, and even managed to bring graffiti legends from New York - MIKE171 & SJK171, to visit and collaborate. With all this constant chaos, the Discord kids and I decided it was finally time to put everything under one roof. That’s how this website was born - a place to keep track of it all. Basically, a monitoring system for my Grandpa.
2026
Grandpa’s been mumbling about “writing a book.” Not sure if he means a proper book or just a coloring book. Meanwhile, Nils Jansons keeps popping up at the Studio, so they’re clearly plotting something together. Add to that the random shipments of new samples showing up - I can only assume they’re for future collections. Either way, something’s brewing. Stay tuned.
