Miami Artwork Week is getting a heavy dose of graffiti historical past and evolution because the Museum of Graffiti celebrates its sixth anniversary with an entire exhibition rework. The museum’s new two-part present, Origins, bridges the uncooked beginnings of New York practice writing with the refined international presence of graffiti as superb artwork. On one aspect, it options unseen works from 1973 by United Graffiti Artists (UGA) legends PHASE2, FLINT 707, SNAKE 1, and COCO144; items that helped graffiti break into the gallery world for the primary time. On the opposite, it introduces El Tiguere, a brand new solo exhibition by Paris-based Harlem native JonOne, who will even paint dwell inside a brief studio put in throughout the museum.
The Origins part takes guests straight again to graffiti’s earliest DNA with an immersive recreation of a Nineteen Seventies ironmongery store that doubles as a working Rust-O spray paint store. It’s a nod to the underground resourcefulness that fueled the tradition, when aerosol, scavenged caps, and the town itself had been the instruments of revolt and creativity. “Monitoring down uncommon artifacts like this was at all times a part of our mission in order that the true historical past of graffiti may be shared in essentially the most genuine manner,” stated Allison Freidin, co-founder of the Museum of Graffiti.
Working parallel to Origins is JonOne’s El Tiguere, a title that channels Dominican avenue slang for the survival intuition of the hustler. The Harlem-born artist, who began bombing trains within the early Eighties earlier than shifting to Paris and changing into a significant power in modern abstraction, channels that spirit into dripping, high-energy canvases exploding with colour and motion. His evolution from avenue author to worldwide artwork determine embodies the tradition’s international attain;a testomony to how far graffiti has come since its underground days.
For the primary time in Miami, the museum will function a functioning artist studio, reworking JonOne’s course of into a part of the present itself. On opening day, he’ll create dwell earlier than the viewers, mixing uncooked spontaneity with the polished confidence of many years within the sport. “I’ve been following Jon’s creative journey because the Eighties in New York Metropolis and marvel at what he has completed along with his signature tag,” stated Museum of Graffiti co-founder and curator Alan Ket. “As soon as vilified, we now have fun his creative genius.”
The exhibition cements the Museum of Graffiti’s place as a dwelling archive, honoring the pioneers who began the motion and showcasing the artists who proceed to increase its legacy worldwide.
