STREET art has always been political. A site-specific middle finger to The Man, a come-one-come-all exhibitionism, communicating for and on behalf of the populous. In bed with graffiti and guerrilla art, the style and its artists have, over the years, moved in and out of the streets and through gallery spaces and commercial relationships; though the medium is innately porous and active, it never loses its ethical current, energized by the frisson of antiestablishment ideals, aesthetic and vernacular.
Lil’ Crazy Legs during a shoot for Charlie Ahearn’s seminal graffiti and hip hop film, Wild Style New York City (1983). Photograph by Martha Cooper
Beyond the Streets, a premier exhibition of graffiti and street art, has traveled to the eye of its medium’s storm: New York City. Opened on the June solstice, in a new (and ironically) commercial high-rise in north Brooklyn, the exhibit spans two floors and nearly 93 thousand square metres, with expansive windows overlooking the summer’s first sunsets over the East River into lower Manhattan – one of the world’s most impactful incubators for street art.
Kenny Scharf, TOTEMOTIKI (2013)
‘Style Wars’ car by street artist NOC 167, 96th Street Station, New York City (1981). Photograph by Martha Cooper
Filmmaker and historian Roger Gastman curated Beyond the Streets with artists rooted in Manhattan and Brooklyn, from both the boroughs’ artistic halcyon days and their presents, alongside an expansive roster of global street artists and other creatives whose work was inspired by them. From icons Keith Haring, Jean-Michel Basquiat and Gordon Matta-Clark, to incendiary art activists Guerrilla Girls and Jenny Holzer, to contemporary commercial cross-overs Takashi Murakami and Shepard Fairey, to a special installation on the Beastie Boys, the show’s winding displays mimic the fluidity of street art’s multi-mediums, and the diversity of the sites and spaces it fills with meaning.
Guerrilla Girls at Abrons Art Center, New York (2015). Photograph by Andrew Hindrake
In partnership with Perrier, the exhibition opening also marked the debut of the brand’s collectible-worthy, limited-edition collaboration with DABSMYLA, an Australian husband-and-wife artist duo. The partners used the carbonated Perrier can as a canvas, illustrating a florally intergalactic panoramic in the pop-colorful nature of a sprawling mural.
Husband-and-wife art duo DABSMYLA, introducing their custom design for Perrier
DABSMYLA, Tenderness (2019)
The exhibition received additional support from partners adidas Originals and adidas Skateboarding. It runs through August 2019. Find information on artists, location, tickets and more through Beyond the Streets.
imagery provided by Beyond the Streets