Graffiti

The exhibition space, spanning more than 1,000 m², is filled with artworks that you might not immediately associate with graffiti, but that have everything to do with it. While some artists literally use spray-painting techniques, others try to capture the energy and fleeting nature of graffiti in abstract work. Dan Christensen’s work O, for example, shows how artists were exploring the possibilities of the spray can even before the rise of graffiti: fluid lines and quick, sweeping gestures.

Graffiti also includes large-scale artworks and installations, such as Klara Lidén’s readymade trash cans and electrical cabinets and Josephine Pryde’s New Media Express, a moving model train covered in miniature graffiti that visitors can ride. Both are examples of how graffiti reflects urban life.

Abcdef, Yuji Agematsu, Chantal Akerman, Nick Atkins, Charles Atlas, Marcel van den Berg, Lutz Bacher, Martin Barré, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Blade, Patricia L. Boyd, Dan Christensen, Shaun Crawford, Curtis Cuffie, René Daniëls, Daze, Manuel DeLanda, Melvin Edwards, Heike-Karin Föll, FUTURA 2000, Keith Haring, Jenny Holzer & Lady Pink, Faisel JEAN Rajjab, Frederique Jonker, KAYA, Jutta Koether, Michael Krebber, Bradley Kronz, Yayoi Kusama, Maggie Lee, Klara Lidén, Ilya Lipkin, Colette Lumiere, Kunle Martins, Jeanette Mundt, Georgie Nettell, Armando Nin, N.O.Madski, Henny Overbeek, Martinus Papilaja, Clayton Patterson, PHASE 2, Charlotte Posenenske, Josephine Pryde, Lin (Quik) Felton, Lee Quiñones, Carol Rama, Rammellzee, R.I.P. Germain, Rhone, Mick La Rock, Matthew "Zexor" Rodriguez, Karin Sander, Han Schuil, Shave, Niels Shoe Meulman, Seen, David Smith, Dash Snow, Ben Solomon, Hedda Sterne, Emily Sundblad, Boris Tellegen, SoiL Thornton, Timer (Greg Oron), Alix Vernet, WANTO, Lawrence Weiner, Dondi White, Martin Wong, Wombat, Zephyr, ZORG

Alongside major international names, graffiti art from Utrecht is also on display. One example is a design sketch by the recently deceased Michel Vos, better known as Rhone. A pioneer whose work on trains and unique style set the standard in the 1990s.

At the heart of the exhibition, Utrecht-based artist Henny Overbeek creates a visual dialogue based on his The Books Happen project. Here, he invites visitors to respond to a base collage and add something of their own. Together, they create a layered installation that changes every day.

On the mezzanines, separate spaces within the exhibition, two presentations highlight the early history of graffiti in the Netherlands.

The first presentation, curated by Dutch Graffiti Library, brings together the earliest video footage of the Dutch graffiti scene and reveals the raw reality in which the culture first took root here.

The second side exhibition, Rammellzee in the Netherlands, was curated by artist and curator Aileen Middel (Mick La Rock). This presentation features exceptional documentary material by photographers including Jannes Linders, Vincent Vlasblom, Peter Gramberg and Elzo Smid (Kladmuur Groningen), as well as original drawings from the Centraal Museum collection that Rammellzee created for his participation in the open-air exhibition Nachtregels in Utrecht.

Graffiti is on display in De Stallen. This exhibition space is located in the old stables of the former Agnieten Convent. Twice a year, it hosts a large-scale themed exhibition focusing on one of our subcollections: old, modern and contemporary art, design, fashion or urban history. De Stallen is the museum's largest exhibition space.

Graffiti is curated by Catrien Schreuder, Leonie Radine and Ned Vena. The exhibition, an initiative of Museion – Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Bolzano/Bozen, is the result of a collaboration between Centraal Museum and Museion.