In the beginning, there was Futura.
That’s kind of how this expansive space feels with no people in it. It is a universe created by a post-graffiti graffiti godfather who has freed his own imagination to search for new planets of influence, new centers of intelligence. Many of the New York graffiti artists who made names on trains in the 1970s and early 80s found a track to transition to the future, whether through evolving their style or reprising it again and again. When you look at the influence of 20th century fine art abstraction as it has matured on the Street Art scene of the last decade, this cat may have begun in this retro-future, and we’re now just catching up to him.
Futura (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Thirty years after he took his work into the gallery from the trainyards, Futura reminds us of the greater possibilities of aerosol as a tool for expression, exploration. The power of the works as presented is cosmic; explosive, exploratory, often serene. Fire and lava formations, oceans, suns, patterned reflections and free nebulous images as captured by powerful telescopes as they float above us. While his hand is freestyle and almost impulsive, Futura can be as selectively deliberate as he is uncontrolled. Viewed in this wide open and darkened gallery galaxy, the space-age illumination gives the works a feeling of astronomy, with each canvas a floating body in the cosmos, clearly viewed from your own porthole. But it’s clear who the north star is.
Futura (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Futura (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Futura. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Futura. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Futura (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Futura (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Futura (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Futura (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Futura. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Futura (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Futura. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Futura. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Futura (photo © Jaime Rojo)
FUTURA – “Future-Shock”, is at the Andy Valmorbida Pop-Up in Tribeca.
Other Articles You May Like from BSA:
There are a few walls you remember over the years, and this one in Borås, Sweden stays fresh in our minds from our trip there in 2015 for the NoLimit Festival (@nolimitboras), originated by the fanta...
A pioneer in public art festivals, Asalto celebrates its 15th year here in San José, in Zaragoza (Spain) with a lineup of very thoughtful artists. The intensity of 2020 and the toll it is taking on t...
Rounding out the Thanksgiving week here as people think back on what they have to be thankful for in New York and across the US. Despite the class war on the poor, near-weekly proof of systematic ...
This week BSA is in Detroit with our hosts 1XRun for the Murals in the Market festival they are hosting with 50+ artists from various countries and disciplines and creative trajectories. In a city t...
We’re celebrating the end of one year and the beginning of the next by thanking BSA Readers, Friends, and Family for your support in 2021. We have selected some of our favorite shots from the yea...