Daniel Montano, who police say may be the country's most prolific graffiti vandal, was jailed yesterday, just 24 hours before an exhibit that includes his artwork opens at the Mattress Factory.

The 22-year-old from Highland Park is one of 18 artists, including his brother, David, whose work is featured in the Mattress Factory's latest exhibit, "Illustrations of Catastrophe and Remote Times." The opening reception is tonight.

His arrest Wednesday on 25 counts of criminal mischief was the latest in an almost six-year history of criminal mischief, vandalism and trespassing. He had been free on bail when he was charged with six felony and 19 misdemeanor counts of criminal mischief that police said piled another $100,000 in damages to his already considerable tab.

He is scheduled for a non-jury trial in the Court of Common Pleas on Jan. 28.

The spray-painted tags that have made him notorious in East End neighborhoods -- including the most ubiquitous, "MFONE" -- had caused $600,000 in damage by the time he was arrested last year.

It's too early to know whether Mr. Montano may follow in the footsteps of Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring, two acclaimed contemporary artists who spent years drawing on subway walls and other surfaces in New York City.

In a statement yesterday, the Mattress Factory called Mr. Montano "a gifted and talented artist."

"We believe his participation in the show is a way for him to showcase his talents in a creative and constructive manner," the statement read.

However, Tony Ceoffe, executive director of Lawrenceville United, a neighborhood nonprofit that focuses on crime eradication, was livid.

"I asked [a police commander] how much trouble I would get into if I showed up there and threw a bucket of red paint on him," Mr. Ceoffe said.

Lawrenceville has been the site of some of Mr. Montano's graffiti.

"Nobody does anything about this guy. It's beyond lunacy, because they've had him several times. The judiciary is going to have to make a decision that this is a lot of damage."

Detective Frank Rende, who has been involved in Mr. Montano's case, has described him as "a real talent. He's an artist, a vandal-slash-artist. These other guys are copycats. But they're all vandals."

Mr. Montano was arrested in August 2005 for tagging an East Liberty building and held for trial the next January for tags at 70 locations. The next August, after a general guilty plea for spray painting three sites and serving five days in jail, he was released with no probation and a restitution of $1,001.

Police and neighborhood advocates were furious and expressed frustration at the time.

Last May, he waived a preliminary hearing in City Court, at which his father, Luis Montano, appeared. He said his son was granted a wall on which to paint a mural in Cali, Colombia, where the elder Montano, an engineer, is from.

At the time, his father defended him as "super nice" and "an amazing painter."

The family could not be reached yesterday.