Leonard McGurr was born in 1955 in New York to an Irish father and a Franco-American mother. He enrolled in the School for Visual Arts to learn printing techniques. He finds his inspiration in the tunnels of the New York subway by trying out several pseudonyms. It was at the age of 15 that he chose the pseudonym Futura 2000. He began to paint at the very beginning of the 1970s in New York, which made him one of the great pioneers of urban painting. He began to paint the cars of the lines of Brooklyn with various groups like UGA (United Graffiti Artists). After an accident in the metro, while tagging, he stopped for four years by enlisting in the marines. He resumed in 1971.

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In the early 1980s, he accompanied the explosion of hip-hop by travelling in particular to Europe where he painted during the break-dance demonstrations of the Rock Steady Crew, and during various concerts. In 1981 he met The Clash and accompanied them on a tour of New York, Paris and London where he painted on stage at the back of the band. He recorded with them The Escapades of Futura 2000. Today, he exhibits his paintings all over the world and his work has been the subject of several exhibitions in France.

His first group exhibition took place in 1981 at the SA Alternative Space in New York and, the same year, he participated, alongside Basquiat, Haring, Warhol, Kenny Scharf but also Rammellzee, Crash and Dondi White, in the famous PS1 Contemporary Art Center exhibition, “New York/New Wave”.

In 1982 the Fun Gallery organized his first personal exhibition, like Basquiat the same year and Keith Haring the following year. From then on, he exhibited all over the world and participated in the first major museum exhibitions devoted to graffiti: at the Boijmans van Beuningen Museum in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, at the Tate Gallery in London, as well as in Hanover, Munich and Hong- Kong and Tokyo.

In 1985, he participated in the first gathering of the graffiti and urban art movement in France, in Bondy.

In the 1990s, he participated in numerous exhibitions in galleries and institutions: at the Palais de Chaillot in Paris, the Groningen Museum in the Netherlands, and the Museum of Fine Arts in Tourcoing.

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Futura's painting is contemporary, expressionist, and abstract or figurative depending on the subjects and the periods. His works are the heirs of action painting. Marie Maertens writes as follows:

"A historical figure of the movement, he is also one of its most pictorial. He is one of those who distinguish themselves not by tagging but by their explosions of colour.

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Futura is an extraordinary artist. A virtuoso of the spray can, an innovator full of energy. He is one of the most famous artists of the street art movement, whose influence goes beyond all borders.

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