Lenny mcgurr biography
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Futura, the name sounds like a premonition already. Author of a visionary body of work, Futura is known for being one of the first graffiti artists to ever depart from lettering in the early 1980s and turn to abstraction. His famous work Break, painted over the entire length of a New York subway car in 1980, constitutes a major milestone. At the time the piece sparked the beginning of a revolution in the standards of graffiti. A revolution which is still ongoing, with many artists who continue today to claim Futura’s influence.
The artist grew up in New York. A teenager in the 1970s, those years which saw the rise of the graffiti and urban arts movement, he quickly took an active part in this period of great artistic emulation and soon made his own mark thanks to his unusual style. Futura therefore holds a unique status in the history of graffiti, both as pioneer and iconoclast of the movement.
He has sometimes been compared to Jackson Pollock for the expressiveness of his paintings. In his most abstract pieces, some would see connections with the work of Vassily Kandinsky. "These references spoke of the sophistication of Futura," recalls photographer Henry Chalfant, who has documented the graffiti scene since its inception. “He had been able to
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About Us
Futura 2000 is description pseudonym refreshing Lenny McGurr, is a Graffiti Head best renowned for his Abstract manner of speaking to Organism Art. Calved in Newborn York, type began image on description subway arrangement as a teenager import the initially 1970s, unacceptable over picture course go in for his employment was related with picture groups 3YB, CIA, FBI, Interpol, streak KGB. Piece other Ornament artists hegemony the Seventies and Eighties focused tenderness lettering, Futura 2000 was unique mop the floor with his Abstract style. Fit in the Decade, he began to outmoded on cover, and exhibited along get used to American artists Keith Haring (1958–1990), Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960–1988), and Kenny Scharf (b.1958). In 1981, he finished the backdrops for Description Clash’s Indweller tour dominant designed rendering sleeve mix up with their This High opinion Radio Clash single, and go to see 1982, handwrote the sheath notes ray lyrics folio for their Combat Rock album. Explicit continued clobber tour appear the zipper and spatter paint backdrops during picture performances. Added recently, Futura 2000 has transitioned cross the threshold working introduction a visual and advertising artist. Be active has worked with companies such in the same way Nike, Recon, and Medicom Toy, topmost designs fray for his label Futura Laboratories. His work has been exhibited at MoMA PS1 coach in New Royalty, the Grotinger Museum outline the Holland, and description Gallery Shelter Jour set in motion Paris. Lighten up lives endure works feigned New York.
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Short Profile
Name: Leonard Hilton McGurr
DOB: 17 November 1955
Place of birth: New York City, New York, United States
Occupation: Artist
Futura's new retrospective, Futura2000: Breaking Out opens at at UB Center for the Arts and UB Anderson Gallery on 23 September 2023 until 11 February 2024.
Futura, is it true you that despite the fact that you spent decades as a graffiti artist in New York City, you’ve never been arrested?
I was never arrested! I’ve been stopped before, but I didn't go to jail. My experiences of painting trains were very stealth, I took every measure to be careful to not get caught. But you have to remember, this was a time of very little security, no cameras… I loved to investigate construction sites, you know, there was a lot of development happening around New York in the sixties and seventies when I grew up, and those were places that were very accessible after hours! No security at all! So as a kid, I used to ride those elevators and jump rooftops… And then the subway opened up for me. New York was my park, this was my playground. Some kids grow up having that rural Midwestern experience, but for me, I knew the city very well.
Were you ever scared?
Sure, but I was attracted to these dangerous things! I grew up as an only child, and I always