Paris

Decembre 1st 2023 - February 2024

At the dawn of the '80s, an artistic effervescence erupted on the streets of New York, laying the foundations for an unprecedented adventure. This was the era when graffiti, like multicolored phoenixes, rose from the ashes of everyday life, transforming the city into a living tableau. In the midst of this tumult, a new generation of artists emerged, bold and daring, ready to defy the norms, freeing art from the shackles of convention. In this urban jungle, these kids proved to be the determined pioneers of an artistic revolution. Armed with spray cans and boundless creativity, they defied the established rules, moving from the street to the canvas. The "Unleashed Spray" exhibition embodies this artistic epic. A story, a journey of 45 canvases, revealing the mysteries of a visual protest: post-graffiti. A standard-bearer for artistic insubordination and an open window on a new world, spray became the pen of a rebellious generation, transcending simple acts of rebellion into a language of varied styles: abstract, figurative, lettered. An affirmation of freedom and a bold response to established norms, this exhibition brimming with audacity and insubordination is a reflection of the 80s. The works on display, treasures of a new cultural paradigm, are thus rare pieces in the construction of this new aestheticism where every gesture on canvas becomes an intrigue, every nuance of color a revelation, where each artist becomes an emblematic figure; a star in the firmament of this pictorial epic (thanks to their ability to transform every spray into a heroic act). Impossible to theorize, post-graffiti has its own codes, rules, principles, styles, icons, heroes and tragic destinies. The works featured in "Unleashed Spray" were exhibited in the 80s by museums, major dealers and visionary gallery owners. They had grasped the authentic artistic essence of these teenagers, perceiving them as dissident creators whose impact would transcend eras. They understood the place this movement would occupy in art history, transcending prejudice to establish a new axiom. The recognition of a counter-culture that had become a movement, a movement at the origins of a culture, and a culture that had become history.

Artists : DONDI WHITE • RAMMELLZEE • LEE QUINONES • FUTURA 2000 • LADY PINK • CRASH • AONE • DAZE • QUIK • SEEN • NOC • TOXIC • KOOL KOOR