Asia
Juming Museum hosts exhibition Limitless - Graffiti Social Club
The line separating subculture and mainstream art gets thinner day by day
Getting nine heavyweight graffiti artists in the same room at the same time is no easy task. Getting all of them to collaborate for a year-long art show at an outdoor museum an hour and a half outside of Taipei is nearly impossible, but Juming Museum has made Limitless - Graffiti Social Club a reality.
Running now until 2022, Blackzao, Colasa, Debe, Disk, Dzusone, Mr. Ogay, Reach, Seazk, and Song have collaborated on the 45-meter corridor guests see first thing when they arrive at Juming Museum before heading outside into the park.
This hallway was totally white when all nine artists arrived. They grabbed their weapons - spray paint, rollers, and markers - and were off to work. Graffiti is usually done quickly and under the cover of the darkness of the night so it is often overlooked as one of the four elements of Hip Hop. To many, graffiti is as important to Hip Hop culture as the hype MCs, the technical DJs, and the flashy Bboys and Bgirls. For these artists to be painting while the museum is open and letting people watch is kind of like showing the audience how the magic trick works. To be involved in the behind-the-scenes action is vey innovative of the museum and also very interesting for the patrons who get to see the finalized pieces.
For many years, Taiwanese graffiti has just been a copy of what artists see on TV, YouTube, or in movies in western culture. It has only been recently that graffiti has taken on local characteristics. Taiwanese artists are showing their own style and getting recognized around the world. The monster has been released from the cage. Audiences can enjoy graffiti in other places besides abandoned buildings or dingy alleyways. They can now go to one of Taiwan's finest museums, and take in a real, nine-artist graffiti collaboration.
Once the artists finished the big piece, they stayed together for the press conference at Juming Museum. They showed the people how they worked by themselves, as well as together, and answered questions from superstar host, 黃子佼.
Limitless - Graffiti Social Club has showed that anything is possible. It’s defiant, innovative, and it is about time that street art has been welcomed into the grandest of museums.
More information on Limitless - Graffiti Social Club at Juming Museum can be found here.