Graffiti Masters Street Art Exhibition at Shanghai A.F.A

By That's Shanghai, September 29, 2024

In October, a powerful storm is coming, showcasing the extraordinary charm of street art and gathering art enthusiasts from all over the city.

Shanghai A.F.A, in collaboration with the globally acclaimed Museum of Graffiti, presents the trendiest Chinese debut at ROJO Art Space: Street Echoes – Global Graffiti Art Exhibition, leading fashionable trendsetters on an artistic journey to experience free thought and trendy expression.

Chinese debut: 'Street Echoes – Global Graffiti Art Exhibition'

The Graffiti Art Museum's First Show

Starting from October 1st, Shanghai A.F.A, a new complex focusing on art and business experience, introduces the top overseas graffiti IP – the Museum of Graffiti, to create a Chinese debut exhibition that brings together multiple cultures.

Live creation is not only presenting hundreds of graffiti art pieces that have a global impact but also becoming a holy land for graffiti artists' thought collision and cultural exchange, creating a more three-dimensional and dynamic street art experience.

Through this exhibition, Shanghai A.F.A hopes to promote the localization and development of graffiti art and promote the integration of graffiti art with local art culture, thereby stimulating more innovative artistic sparks.

Global Graffiti Artists Exchange and Create Together

To jointly create this unique creative paradise for graffiti art, the co-founders of the Graffiti Art Museum, Alan Ket and Allison Freidin, have landed in Shanghai A.F.A, giving this graffiti feast more vitality.

Alan Ket, who has been continuously recording the development and rise of graffiti culture since his youth, founded the world's first graffiti art museum in 2018, dedicated to promoting graffiti art, and also shared more wonderful stories behind graffiti art at this exhibition.

Alan Ket and Allison Freidin

In addition, Shanghai A.F.A has also invited graffiti art legends Jon One, Vance Yuan, Chinese graffiti pioneer Gas, and DOCTC5, Jayflow, SPIV, MUGRE, Tones, Sabe, WEZT, and OLA, and other graffiti artists who are well-known at home and abroad, to come to the scene and celebrate this graffiti event together.

Graffiti Artists on Site

The artists not only brought their classic works but also created on the spot, integrating their world-class artistic inspiration and innovative spirit into every corner of the exhibition space, bringing graffiti art into the indoor space.

Centered around this graffiti art event held in China, Jon One said at the spray painting site:

"I really like the way Chinese artists create. I used Eastern and Asian elements in my artwork, while maintaining the tradition of street art, I also gave graffiti some fresh content. I think this is the uniqueness."

Graffiti Art Legend – Jon One

Bringing Street Graffiti Into the Art Space

A world full of original works by top graffiti artists is slowly opening its doors. The exhibition creates a variety of street scenes through different displays, such as subway stations, graffiti parks, campuses, record stores, and other graffiti sites.

The visual impact and crazy, unrestrained graffiti art that come with it will bring a new shock to art enthusiasts. Combining the exhibition with interactive experiences, visitors will return to the streets of New York in the 1970s and 1980s, starting a heart-to-heart conversation with top artists and feeling the collision of artistic inspiration.

Reproduction of various classic graffiti sites

Starting with the graffiti subway train created by DOC TC5, visitors can see the master's authentic work everywhere in the waiting area and resting walls.

This gathering includes SEEN's early subway graffiti and his pioneering work exhibited at MOMA PS1, WANE's unique logo design, KEL FIRST's bold and innovative letter style, and the works of graffiti art pioneer Goldie and other top artists who combine graffiti art with music.

These works are like a time train, carrying the history and culture of graffiti art, leading visitors back to the era full of freedom and rebellious spirit, feeling the unique charm and vitality of graffiti culture.

Creatively create graffiti subway train

Walking out of the subway station, you will see a retro skateboard park. Jon One, the first foreign artist to create on-site at the Forbidden City, has brought a full wall of on-site spray painting. Visitors can feel the infinite artistic vitality in Jon One's abstract style.

Jon One

More distinctive street art graffiti will also be presented in projection form here, with many museum collections allowing the audience to feast their eyes.

Passing through the campus hall of fame, a collection of works by top global graffiti artists is exhibited here, including: Gas (China), Jay Flow (South Korea), Mugre Diamante (Colombia), Spiv (South Korea), Vance (China), and Wezt (South Korea). They create unique stories through diverse styles.

Bringing together diverse creative inspiration

The next stop is the urban park art installation created by Boris Tellegen. The warehouses on both sides of the road and the record stores and restrooms on both sides of the street are also dressed in creative clothes, with walls decorated with imaginative patterns.

Alan Ket, the co-founder of the Graffiti Art Museum, also left his creative mark here, truly presenting the scene of street graffiti.

Street graffiti scenes

During the exhibition, there are also many interesting artistic interactive devices on-site. Come and interact to unlock new experiences in graffiti creation scenes.

The electronic interactive graffiti screen allows visitors to create graffiti paintings, exclusive photo devices to leave precious images, and connect with a call from the curator of the Graffiti Art Museum to receive unexpected surprises from 'blind boxes.'

Limited edition art peripherals co-branded by artists are also on sale in a limited time. It is worth mentioning that the exhibition will also hold exciting workshop activities from time to time, giving visitors the opportunity to experience the unique charm of graffiti creation up close.

Interactive installation

Stars from all walks of life gather at Shanghai A.F.A to start a cross-border dialogue between art and fashion.

On the occasion of the completion of the exhibition, Shanghai A.F.A and the Museum of Graffiti have planned an art forum. This forum is a model of cross-border dialogue between art and fashion, and it is also a stage for thought exchange and collision of inspiration.

Media professionals and internationally renowned artists from various professional fields gather together to discuss topics such as the origin and development of graffiti art, the significance of graffiti culture, and how graffiti art can be combined with commercial real estate through in-depth interviews and interactive discussions.

The pulse of street art: exploring its global impact

Alan Ket, the co-founder of the Graffiti Museum, believes that the Chinese debut of the Graffiti Art Museum is not only an opportunity to showcase graffiti art but also a platform to deepen cultural exchange and understanding.

He hopes to promote dialogue and cooperation among artists from different cultural backgrounds through this event. When talking about the selection of artists, he said that he pays great attention to diversity, including regional, gender, and racial diversity, to ensure that different voices and styles can be displayed.

This diverse curatorial concept not only reflects respect for different cultures and artistic expressions but also helps to promote the innovation and development of graffiti art. The cooperation with Shanghai A.F.A is also the first step for the Graffiti Art Museum to promote this trendy culture in China.

Alan Ket, Co-Founder of the Museum of Graffiti

When talking about how culture can be combined with commercial real estate, Liang Weihong, the general manager of the Shanghai A.F.A project, said that the combination of art and commerce is a popular trend in the development of future commercial real estate.

The introduction of art activities not only enriches the content of commercial space and brings unique and diverse cultural experiences to consumers but also promotes the innovation and revitalization of commercial real estate, thereby driving the development of related supporting facilities, such as future catering and retail, forming a virtuous economic cycle.

Liang Weihua, General Manager of Shanghai A.F.A Project

At the same time, the Super∞ Infinite Party co-hosted by Shanghai A.F.A and SuperELLE Xinyang magazine made a momentum for the opening of this exhibition.

The editor-in-chief of SuperELLE Xinyang magazine, the person in charge of the Shanghai A.F.A project, and the artists came to the scene and delivered warm messages on the opening of this exhibition and the official opening of the ROJO Art Space.

In addition, the party also invited trendy stars to the scene, adding infinite starlight to this visual feast. The artists of the Museum of Graffiti not only brought their works but also provided special guided tours, allowing guests to immerse themselves in the unique style and profound cultural significance of graffiti art, showing the infinite possibilities of cross-border cooperation between art and fashion.

Super ∞ Infinite Party, the opening of the exhibition