Art in the Streets at MoCA LA

Art in the Streets is the first important museum show in the US surveying graffiti and street art. The exhibition retraces the development of graffiti and street art from the 1970s to what it has become today, concentrating on key cities such as New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, London, and Sao Paulo, where a unique visual language or attitude has evolved. The exhibition features paintings, mixed media sculptures, and interactive installations by 50 of the most dynamic artists.

A special emphasis is also made on photographers and filmmakers who documented graffiti and street art culture including Martha Cooper, Henry Chalfant, James Prigoff, Steve Grody, Gusmano Cesaretti, Estevan Oriol, Ed Templeton, Larry Clark, Terry Richardson, and Spike Jonze.

Art in the Streets features several shows within the show. There is a special section dedicated to the Fun Gallery, which connected New York graffiti artists with the downtown art community in the early 1980s. Co-curated by gallery founder Patti Astor, the Fun Gallery installation will feature the work of Keith Haring, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and the graffiti artists who shaped the gallery’s history. A section dedicated to the seminal film Wild Style (1983), co-curated by the film’s director Charlie Ahearn, documents its influence on the global dissemination of graffiti and hip-hop culture. The exhibition also features a memorial presentation of Battle Station, a rarely seen work by legendary artist and theorist RAMMELLZEE, and a display of graffiti black books and other historic works from the Martin Wong Collection presented in collaboration with the Museum of the City of New York.

Art in the Streets will be the first exhibition to position the work of the most influential artists to emerge from street culture in the context of contemporary art history,” shares MOCA Director Jeffrey Deitch.

Including : Shepard Fairey, Space Invader, JR, Miss Van, as well as Fab 5 Freddy, Lee Quiñones, Rammellzee, Futura, Margaret Kilgallen, Swoon, Os Gemeos, Craig R. Stecyk III, Chaz Bojórquez, Mister Cartoon, RETNA, SABER, REVOK, RISK, Todd James, Barry McGee, Steve Powers, etc.

Following MOCA’s presentation, the exhibition will travel to the Brooklyn Museum, where it will be on view March 30–July 8, 2012.

“Art in the Streets” at MoCA LA
From 17 April, 2011 to 8 August, 2011
Opening 17 April, 2011