Futura 2000 at La Fab: An Explosive Retrospective in the Heart of Paris
- Delphine & Romain Class
- Apr 11
- 4 min read
Updated: Apr 14
La Fab, the cultural space founded by Agnès b., will host a major exhibition in spring 2025—running from April 25 to October 19—dedicated to one of the pioneers of New York graffiti: Futura 2000. This dense and immersive retrospective traces the meteoric career of the artist while highlighting his influence on contemporary art, design, music, and fashion. Through bold scenography, the museum celebrates Futura 2000’s visual universe—a blend of controlled chaos, urban abstraction, and poetic expression.
Born Leonard Hilton McGurr in New York in 1955, Futura 2000 emerged in the 1970s as an iconoclastic figure of graffiti art. Unlike other street artists of his time who focused on lettering and tags, Futura turned early on to abstraction. At a time when New York City subway cars became the canvases of a rebellious generation, Futura 2000 broke the mold by painting dynamic, futuristic forms inspired by science fiction and punk culture.
The exhibition at La Fab revisits this formative period with a series of rare archives, photographs of train cars covered in his work, and videos shot in the underground New York scene of the 1980s. It also showcases legendary collaborations with the band The Clash, for whom he designed record sleeves and even joined on tour.
The power of Futura 2000 lies in his style: a unique balance between abstraction, raw energy, and surgical precision. His pictorial gestures evoke both the abstract expressionism of Jackson Pollock and the urban vibrations of hip-hop. He uses spray cans, brushes, markers, and sometimes repurposed tools to create a cosmic visual world filled with biomorphic shapes and atomic trajectories.
At La Fab, visitors are invited to dive into this pictorial cosmos. The rooms are punctuated by emblematic series such as the “Pointman” — elongated humanoid figures that have become icons of his work and often appear as sculptures — as well as massive canvases where bursts of color, graphic explosions, and taut lines collide on the edge of geometry. One immersive space offers a sound and visual installation simulating an intergalactic journey, resonating with the artist's name and his obsession with space and time.
One of the most striking aspects of this exhibition is Futura 2000's ability to transcend traditional art boundaries. La Fab explores his many ventures into fashion—including collaborations with Agnès b., A Bathing Ape, Nike, and Supreme—as well as industrial design (notably with brands like BMW and Medicom Toy). The exhibition features an impressive selection of rare pieces: limited edition sneakers, design objects, skateboards, collectible toys, and customized garments.
A space is also dedicated to his role in the global rise of street visual culture. In a black-box screening room, visitors can watch interviews that reveal the man behind the legend—discreet but deeply committed to inspiring new generations through art.
The exhibition resonates especially deeply in the very place that hosts it. Agnès b., a key figure in fashion and a major patron of contemporary art, has always maintained a close relationship with the underground art scene, including Futura 2000. As early as the 1980s, she supported his work and showcased it in her Parisian galleries and boutiques. This retrospective stands as a sincere tribute to an artistic friendship spanning more than 40 years.
The exhibition opens with the words of Agnès b.: “Futura is a visual poet. He draws the world as it could be: fragmented, free, cosmic.” A statement that perfectly encapsulates the spirit of the show, conceived not merely as a display but as a sensory and emotional experience.
Back in 2021, La Fab had already dedicated a first exhibition to the artist, titled Hors les murs – Futura in the agnès b. collection. It featured a selection of works from the designer's personal collection, tracing their collaboration through paintings, drawings, objects, and archival materials. That intimate show revealed Agnès b.’s deep attachment to Futura’s world and her role in bridging American street art and the European public. The warm reception from both critics and the public likely helped pave the way for the much larger and more ambitious 2025 retrospective.
To accompany the retrospective, La Fab is offering a rich program of events. These include graffiti workshops led by young artists from the Parisian urban scene, lectures on street art history, screenings of rare documentaries, and performance evenings where street art meets hip-hop, dance, and spoken word.
A richly illustrated exhibition catalog will be available, containing critical essays, interviews with the artist, testimonials from influential figures in the urban art scene, and a range of often-unpublished iconographic archives. This book-object is a collector’s piece in its own right.
At a time when street art has entered museums around the world—from Banksy to JR—Futura 2000’s exhibition at La Fab is a powerful reminder that the movement was born from rebellious practices, emerging from the shadows of the cities yet driven by an inexhaustible creative energy. Futura’s work transcends time: his abstract compositions, futuristic visual codes, and experimental approach resonate strongly in an era shaped by technological upheaval and social tensions.
Far from being a relic of graffiti’s old school, Futura 2000 emerges here as a resolutely contemporary artist, constantly evolving and forever seeking new territories to explore.
Practical Information
Exhibition title: Futura 2000 – To Infinity and Beyond Dates: April 15 to August 31, 2025 Venue: La Fab, Place Jean-Michel Basquiat, Paris 13th Admission: Full price: €10, Reduced price: €6 Catalog: Available in the museum shop and online
The Futura 2000 exhibition at La Fab promises to leave a lasting impression. By bringing together iconic works, immersive installations, and a sincere commitment to urban culture, it offers a vibrant tribute to a living legend of contemporary art. Not to be missed.
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