NYC’s Transcendence from Street Art to High Culture, Museum Exhibit Celebrates Graffiti Icons

From the aerosol-scented tunnels of subterranean transit to the hallowed halls of high culture, New York City’s graffiti art has journeyed far and wide. The Museum of the City of New York is currently showcasing “Above Ground,” an exhibit celebrating a movement that has heavily imprinted itself on the city’s canvas. Honoring stalwarts like Keith Haring and Lady Pink, the exhibition runs through next August, offering a profound look at the genre’s evolution. The transition from outlaw art to gallery chic wasn’t spontaneous. It took advocates like Martin Wong—a painter and erstwhile Pearl Paint employee on Canal Street—to recognize and nurture this raw talent. Wong’s prescient collection of works, which he made a mission to keep in NYC, lies at the core of this exhibit. “It tells the story of art from the streets and the story of how a number of artists who painted on streets and on trains left the streets and became fine artists,” curator Sean Corcoran told FOX 5 NY. Corcoran further detailed to Muse by Clio the importance of Wong’s collection, emphasizing its rarity and the insight it provides into the graffiti subculture. With over 300 canvases and countless sketches, the collection navigates through personal...