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:
The French-Swiss land artist Saype is starting his 30s with a grand idea of hands joined across the earth. Saype. Beyond Walls Project. Golden Horn of the Bosphorus, Istanbul, Turkey. October 202...
La Ciutat Vella or The Old City is a district in Barcelona also known as the Gothic Quarters. Among many things it is also known as the stomping grounds for the young Pablo Picasso, who attended the ...
Yup, that’s what kids need to help them learn their ABC’s – a mural that combines a poem inside a hybrid of flamingo, stork, crane, heron, and cormorant. Also, it is good to have smaller animal...
The first thing you learn with contemporary, specifically conceptual, art is that it is likely to be accompanied by an artist’s statement. Some times the statement is illustrative and clarifying while...
Two Street Artists named Dissenso Cognitivo and NemO’s created this slicing critique of mankind for the Restart Festival 2014 in Imola, Italy that took place over 3 days in the end of September. Di...