Past, Present and Futura
Leonard McGurr, aka Futura is one of the world’s most prominent street artists belonging to the second generation of New York writers, who instigated the new way for graffiti in the 1970s. A living legend, Futura is a contemporary of Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat, and was one of the first New York City graffiti artists to make the transition to the gallery world.
At a time when graffiti writing was widely produced, Futura looked beyond prevailing trends, blending graffiti and street art, to create works that drew parallels with an abstract and impressionist aesthetic.
Futura was the artist who covered an entire subway car in his abstract style. He is also the artist, who upon meeting The Clash, ended up painting his iconic works during their live shows. Futura went on to include an artistic aesthetic that had never been seen within the graffiti world. His work has been compared to Kandinsky and Klee due to his mastery of colour, movement and linear aesthetic. “When I first started making paintings in 1979-81, people were comparing me to Kandinsky and making references to other artists throughout art history whom I had never heard of!” he told Interview Magazine in 2012. Manhattan born, Brooklyn-based Futura – who came up with Futura 2000 from an old Ford model and Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey – even spent four years in the navy, after his close friend and painting partner Mark Edmonds (aka Ali), suffered a horrific accident in a train tunnel.
He began in New York’s subway and then moved towards public and gallery spaces. But with the creative genius that he displayed in his early years, still, decades later, his style is as prominent and original as ever. His methodology is something consummately pure. Futura’s work stands apart for its subtlety, use of space, and elemental quality. He knows all that is needed – as it was at the beginning – with clouds of primary color, arresting movement, and skillful tricks with a spray can. Insight and proficiency have kept him relevant for 40 plus years with no signs of slowing down. The writing was always on the wall, and Futura is very much the scribe.
He’s back with new exhibitions around the world, showcasing some new and archival works, and even a second collaboration with Converse as part of the Converse Black Canvas series that features his iconic Skyfall print.
Futura’s current exhibition, NEW HORIZONS at Library Street Collective kicks off a new era for him, one he’s dubbed his ‘third act’, that will prove once again his service to reinvention and perpetual motion forward. In preparation for the exhibition, Futura spent a week in Detroit painting at a Broadway Street studio, a decision that had everything to do with channelling the city into his work. With titles like Shelby Yellow, Pistons, and Tiger Stripe, local fans will be thrilled to see paintings by a graffiti legend that reference Motown so intimately. Placed on a billboard across from the gallery, one work even includes maps of downtown set behind a crew of signature characters.
His work is also included in a show at Beijing’s 3B Gallery, CAFA art museum. Curated by Magda Danysz, and having featured an opening live painting performance by Futura, Art From The Street hosts a comprehensive group exhibition, showcasing a global view that will portray the diversity and complexity of street art and graffiti. Featuring a plethora of international artists coming from Brazil, China, France, Italy, Portugal, Senegal, the US, and the UK, this important archival exhibition will provide a better understanding of the history and development of street art.
His past paved the way to a present where his work retains a powerful cultural and artistic currency, ultimately iconising a unique style of street art. Looking forward, we can only wait to see what the Futura will hold.
NEW HORIZONS is now on at Library Street Collective, Detroit, Michigan until Saturday 3 September 2016. Art From The Street at 3B Gallery, CAFA Art Museum, Beijing, is also on now until Wednesday 24 August 2016.
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