The Culture Story, Singapore Acquired from the above by the present owner
Exhibited
Dover Street Market, Singapore, 2 June 2019
Catalogue Essay
Coined as the godfather of contemporary graffiti, Futura, also known as Futura 2000, defined the graffiti movement of the 1970s through introducing abstraction to an entirely letter-based medium. He transitioned from making New York-based subway graffiti to exhibiting at the Fun Gallery in the 1980s alongside contemporaries such as Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring, and Kenny Scharf. Striking examples of the artist’s unique aesthetic across two different mediums, Untitled and FL-003 are a testament to the artist’s ability to break down and blur the boundaries between hip hop culture, graffiti, high art, punk and avant-garde, forming a microcosm of his own.
Futura with street artist STASH and curator, Jahan Loh Image Courtesy from @mr_stash Executed and finished during a two-week residency at The Culture Story in Singapore in May 2019, Untitled (Lot 169) was part of 30 works exhibited as part of Constellation at the Gillman Barracks, marking the artist’s debut showcase in Southeast Asia. Rendered in bright green and red hues, Futura demonstrates deftness in deploying impossibly thin aerosol lines on canvas, juxtaposing them on thicker areas of paint yet retaining a sense of balance amidst this highly retro-futuristic composition. It is particularly fitting that this piece was created site specifically, calling to mind the artist’s earliest live-painting sessions in the 1980s during British punk rock band The Clash’s concerts. Furthermore, Untitled then went on to be exhibited alongside the relaunch of his streetwear Futura Laboratories at Dover Street Market Singapore in June.
Installation shot of exhibition at Dover Street Market, Singapore Futura’s pioneering art practice also extends to his sculpture as seen in FL-003 (Lot 170). Meticulously cast in bronze with a baking finish, this work was unveiled as part of various other figures in the Generation Z exhibition at The Mass in Harajuku, Tokyo. Similar to his iconic Pointman figure, FL-003 is a brand new character “39Meg” from an edition of 40, instantly recognisable and carrying a sense of futurism.