Artist and New York City-native FUTURA 2000 has spent the past five decades making his mark on the city he calls home, from early graffiti art in the 70s to his current practice of contemporary abstraction. This fall, The Bronx Museum of the Arts is celebrating FUTURA’s life and career with FUTURA 2000: BREAKING OUT. On view from Sunday, September 8 through winter 2025, the retrospective showcases his sculptures, drawings, prints, studies, collaborations, and archival paraphernalia dating from the 1970s to the present as well as new site-specific temporary installations.
Portrait of FUTURA 2000, Photo by 13thWitness, 2024.
FUTURA 2000’s practice today continues to bear his fascination with the aesthetics of science fiction and the space age. These interests led to his early adoption of sophisticated computer technology and video gaming. Utilizing spray paint with virtuosic precision, he creates abstract cosmic compositions on canvas. Refined lines are contrasted by mists of vibrant colors and gestural brush marks while large areas are left empty—allowing forms to float freely across the surface, suggesting the expansiveness of outer space. His recurring motifs include the atom shape, symbolizing perpetual motion; a crane or linear mark, indicating a moment of rupture; and the enigmatic Pointman, reminiscent of an alien presence.
“FUTURA 2000’s unique visual language—bridging street art, abstract expressionism, and fashion—places him alongside his peers like Jean-Michel Basquiat within the canon of art history, and is especially compelling to The Bronx Museum’s audiences in The Bronx and beyond,” says Executive Director of The Bronx Museum, Klaudio Rodriguez. “We could not be more delighted to champion FUTURA 2000 with this iteration of BREAKING OUT.”
FUTURA 2000, Under Metropolis, 1983. Courtesy of the collection of KAWS.
The Bronx Museum was founded in 1971, at a time when FUTURA 2000 began exploring his capacity as an artist through street art. As his aesthetic evolved, FUTURA 2000 continued using materials and techniques like spray paint, aerosol, and stencils to create abstract compositions — an approach that was revolutionary in the contemporary art world and remains his signature style today.
The exhibition’s title, BREAKING OUT, refers to FUTURA 2000’s boundary-breaking creative practice and his famous 1980 piece, Break, where the artist painted the full exterior of an N.Y.C. subway car with vibrant color and no lettering — a first for the graffiti art movement. At the time, FUTURA would “bench” in The South Bronx to watch his Break train pass by on elevated tracks—a short distance from The Bronx Museum.
FUTURA 2000, Jump Off, 1988. Courtesy of the collection of Patrick Lerouge.
FUTURA 2000’s meteoric rise as a culture-defining artist was fully cemented in the early 1980’s. His paintings were featured in historic exhibitions at Patti Astor’s Fun Gallery and Tony Shafrazi Gallery. He additionally collaborated with pivotal punk band The Clash: designing their album art and painting large-scale backdrops on stage while the band played to fervent audiences on their 1981 “Combat Rock” European tour.
“The retrospective showcases the vast scope and depth of FUTURA 2000’s artistic practice, within the compelling narrative of his life and career,” says the Director of Curatorial Programs at The Bronx Museum, Eileen Jeng Lynch. “The Bronx Museum’s commitment to accessibility by providing free admission, and longstanding history of championing artists who forefront the communities we serve—like John Ahearn & Rigoberto Torres, Abigail DeVille, Henry Chalfant, and Jamel Shabazz—make it the perfect venue for FUTURA 2000’s N.Y.C. homecoming.”
FUTURA 2000: BREAKING OUT is organized by the University at Buffalo Art Galleries. Robert Scalise, Director of the UB Art Galleries, and Zack Boehler, Public Art Project Coordinator at the Buffalo AKG Art Museum, are curators of the exhibition.
Like what you see? Get it first with a subscription to aspire design and home magazine.