Beyond the Streets London
In the early 90s my roommates would stay up late smoking weed and listening to the Beastie Boys, then sneak out of the dorm to spray paint until dawn. Clandestine photos of their work were displayed on our “coffee table” (my luggage trunk). Around the same time, mysterious stickers of Andre the Giant started to appear on campus street lamps. I chalked it all up as delinquency. Turns out they were just way ahead of the curve.
Graffiti is still illegal but it’s early ethos, soundtracked by hip-hop and punk rock, spawned the Street Art industry. And yes, industry is the appropriate word for something that has it’s own anonymous superstar, regularly influences fashion and media and even has an international touring exhibition, which officially opens today at the Saatchi Gallery. Regardless of your opinion or knowledge about this historically underground corner of culture, this is a show you simply don’t want to miss.
With the widest possible audience in mind, Beyond the Streets aims to educate and entertain and does so to excess with immersive rooms, giant vinyls, hand carved doors and hip-hop fashion covered mannequins. Almost every square inch of the gallery has been turned over to the artists. Though I suspect that for most people, reviewing the artist list will be akin to skimming the lineup of a weekend music festival. There’ll be 1 or 2 mainstream names you’ll know, a few names you’ll recognise only once you’ve seen the work, and everyone else’s might as well be written in hieroglyphs. Don’t let that put you off. Like all the best ‘fests this one has a killer opening act (an actual record shop in the entrance!) and the bangers just keep coming until you’re almost too exhausted for the encore, a faux Ralph Lauren façade that leads you to the actual gallery gift shop.
Aside from the archives in the vitrines, which will especially amuse anyone old enough to have lived through the 80s or 90s, a majority of the works are recent with many made directly onto the walls. Humour, irreverence, pop culture and fashion feature heavily. And there’s more than enough comprehensive wall text to earn you a history degree in graffiti. Without exaggeration, you’ll need half a day to properly take it all in.
My only real issue with the show is that it’s clearly at it’s best when the artists replicate the anything goes nature of their world. Graffiti and street artists’ chosen canvas is literally anything but, which is why even the oldest archival works still feel so fresh. You can practically smell the spray paint dripping off those 1980s Tube carriages, whereas the handful of rectangular framed canvases on white walls ironically look as out of place here as they would in the National Gallery. But that’s a minor quibble for a show that relentlessly reminds you just how creative artists can be when they’re working outside the system.
Except graffiti and street art is now very much part of the system, something this show goes out of its way to establish. That guy who originated those Andre the Giant stickers? I spotted him casually chatting to people at the opening. Even if you don’t know his name, you know his work: Shepard Fairey designed the Obama “Hope” poster. He’s one of over 100 international artists that have filled all 70,000 SqFt of the Saatchi Gallery. If you can get through it all you might just have a new appreciation for this rule-breaking, mark-making art.
Plan your visit
At Saatchi Gallery (@saatchi_gallery) until 09 May
£25 adults / £15 concessions / Children under 5 free & Family tickets available
Visit beyondthestreets.com and follow @beyondthestreetsart on Instagram for more information about the organisation behind the touring show.
The show was curated by the founder of BEYOND THE STREETS, Roger Gastman (@rogergastman), a graffiti historian who produced Exit Through the Gift Shop, the 2010 Academy Award-nominated documentary directed by Banksy.
Exhibiting artists include:
André Saraiva | Beastie Boys | C. R. Stecyk III | Charlie Ahearn | Chaz Bojórquez | Conor Harrington CRASH | Dash Snow | DAZE | Eric HAZE | Fab 5 Freddy | FAILE | Felipe Pantone | FUTURA2000 GOLDIE | Gordon Matta-Clark | Guerrilla Girls | Henry Chalfant | Jamie Reid | Janette Beckman | Jenny Holzer | José Parlá | KAWS | Kenny Scharf |LADY PINK | Malcolm McLaren | Maripol Martha Cooper | Maya Hayuk | Mister CARTOON | MODE 2 | Paul Insect | Robert 3D Del Naja | Shepard Fairey | Stephen ESPO Powers | SWOON | Todd James | VHILS | ZEPHYR | & MORE