MOCA presents Art in the Streets

The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, is showing the first major U.S. museum exhibition on the history of graffiti and street art until August 8, 2011, at The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA.

Organized by Jeffrey Deitch and associate curators Roger Gastman and Aaron Rose, Art in the Streets signs the development of graffiti and street art from the 1970s to the global movement it has become today, showcasing the works by 50 of the most renowned artists by the graffiti and street art community, including including Banksy (London), Fab 5 Freddy (New York), Lee Quiñones (New York), Futura (New York), Margaret Kilgallen (San Francisco), Swoon (New York), Shepard Fairey (Los Angeles), Os Gemeos (São Paulo), and JR (Paris).

The exhibition emphasizes Los Angeles’s role in the evolution of graffiti and street art, with
special sections dedicated to cholo graffiti and Dogtown skateboard culture, as well as hilighting
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.
Works by influential local artists such as Craig R. Stecyk III, Chaz Bojórquez, Mister Cartoon, Robbie Conal, RETNA, SABER, REVOK, and RISK, are also featured.

Art in the Streets also features a timeline illustrated with artwork
photography, video, and ephemera, providing a compehensive historical context to its visitors.

The exhibition includes several shows, namely a special section dedicated to the Fun Gallery and curated by its founder Patti Astor, featuring the works of Keith Haring, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and the graffiti artists who shaped the gallery’s history.

The public can also visit a section dedicated to the seminal film Wild Style (1983), co-curated by the film’s director Charlie Ahearn, documenting its influence on the global dissemination of graffiti and hip-hop culture, watch a memorial presentation of Battle Station 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.
A re-creation of an urban street complete with overturned trucks by Todd James, Barry McGee, and Steve Powers, offers a Los Angeles version of Street Market.

An extensive programme of educational and community workshops complements the exhibition, including a graffiti and street art film festival presented in collaboration with the Cinefamily, music and dance programs featuring some of the originators of hip-hop and break dancing, and an admission free Levi’s® Film Workshop at MOCA, offering a diverse schedule of programming that celebrates the craft of filmmaking and explores the exhibition’s subject matter.
A special version of Associate Curator Aaron Rose’s Make Something!! educational project will also be presented at various Los Angeles high schools.

A comprehensive catalogue on the history of graffiti and street art published by Skira Rizzoli and edited by Nikki Columbus, former associate editor of Artforum, will accompanies the exhibition.

Following MOCA’s presentation, the exhibition will travel to the Brooklyn Museum, where it will be on view March 30–July 8, 2012.
This major exhibition follows a partnership between the Brooklyn Museum and MOCA started in 2005 with Brooklyn-organized exhibition of the work of Jean-Michel Basquiat, followed by the MOCA-organized ©MURAKAMI in 2007. A partnership between two major culture institutions that has proved itself successful by bringing to the public a major record of public art over the past half century.

Art in the Streets can be visited until August 8, 2011, at The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA (formerly The Temporary Contemporary).