iNo: a masked graffiti artist and modern-day Athenian street philosopher

Ancient Greeks had Epicurus and Socrates to guide them in their moral thinking and behaviour. In 2015, Athens has iNO,a masked vigilante of agraffiti artist whose large-scale murals offerthe sort ofwisdom and insight thatpoliticians are rarely able to articulate in words.

Pseudonym: iNO

Age: Unknown

Hometown: Piraeus, Greece

The art needs to speak for itself. Who I am doesn't matter.- iNO

Graffiti is the most public form of visual art, but Piraeus native iNO prefers to keep his identity private. "In general, I prefer not to show my face or tell things about myself. I feel that's not the point."

But not all surfaces are fair game iNO has a distinct sense of the boundaries between public and private spaces.

"For me, it's not right to invade someone else's property. If it's a public wall, it's different. I don't ask permission because people who govern our society don't ask permission from us to do things. So why should I ask them?

Visual language

"I prefer to speak in images because it's more approachable," says iNO. By freeing his work of text, he believes he can reach more people.

Although some of his art has a decorative focus, many of his pieces are driven by social issues. "I deal with social themes in my art. Most of the themes represent social stigmas how humans become slaves of their own creations, be it in money or in politics."

On his mural work "Random Future"

"[Random Future] depicts a family in Greece. They just had a child and they're sad because they don't know what's going to happen, if they can even provide the basics.

"I know these people but I pixilated their faces because they symbolize all the Greek families who are trying to build their future but they cannot have a healthy family because they don't know what's next. It's done purposefully in a working class suburb of Athens, which actually happens to be where I grew up."

Follow iNO's work onInstagram and learn more about the ideasbehind his giant murals on the next Interrupt This Program. January 4 at 7/7:30pmNT on CBC.