"Art From The Streets" brings iconic street art to Asia

Singapore consolidates its status as Southeast Asia’s artistic hub with a five-month-long collective street art exhibition at the ArtScience Museum that will bring to the region works from some of the most celebrated artists in the field.

“Art From the Streets”, curated by expert Magda Danysz, is a celebration of 40 years of street art. The Singapore showcase is a unique opportunity for art lovers in the region to admire works by icons like Vhils, Invade, Futura and Banksy. It Traces its enormous cultural impacts on urban areas and societies around the world from its very humble beginning as a countercultural and grassroots phenomenon in 1970s New York City to its rise as one of the driving forces in today’s contemporary art world.

Visitors can explore the multifaceted evolution of street art by diving into the exhibition’s six sections. From “The Pioneers and the Masters,” via “Art of the Context” to “Getting Up”, more than 200 installations, mural paintings, prints, archival materials, sketches and videos are exhibited to illustrate the vibrancy and diversity of the movements. The development of the phenomenon is also charted through its reinvention and reinterpretations throughout history providing a connection to the musical and cultural landscapes that brought about these changes.

The ArtScience Museum has also invited ten prominent artists to create in-site artworks for each of the museum’s galleries, an unprecedented move that will “[…] really make the walls speak. […] And to top it off, we are doing more than showing art from the streets within our spaces – we also have a programme of art on the streets, with new works by local and international artists being created for public spaces in the streets of Singapore. This landmark show will reframe the public’s perception of Street Art, revealing a dynamic and energetic art movement in a constant state of flux,” Honor Harger, Executive Director of ArtScience Museum, Marina Bay Sands, said in a statement.

The ten exclusive commissions were created by a diverse cadre of up-and-coming artists with different backgrounds. The result is an impressive collection of pieces that touch upon various contemporary themes with unique perspectives.

Among the most powerful works are Spanish-Argentinian artist Felipe Pantone’s Chromadynamica, a representation of the urgency and instantaneity of the digital age, Gilgamesh: The Quest for Immortality by Moroccan artist Tarek Benaoum, an example of calligraffiti art (a combination of graffiti and calligraphy) that explores the themes of the great epic from which it takes inspiration from and French artist YZ’s expansion her Empress Series with Empress Ngatini, which, using recycled materials, showcases a female point of view through an incisive portrait.

“Visitors are going to see a very different side of ArtScience Museum with “Art From The Streets”, one of our boldest and most provocative shows to date,” Harger concluded.

The exhibition is now open to the public and will run until June 2018.

ScienceArt Museum, 6 Bayfront Ave, Singapore, +65 6688 8888, marinabaysands.com