Louisiana Channel interviews the pioneering artist Futura 2000 on the occasion of his exhibition in Eighteen

Meet the living legend of contemporary graffiti art, Leonard Hilton McGurr, alias Futura 2000 in a new video by Louisiana Channel. 

In 1984, Futura 2000 participated in the exhibition New York Graffiti at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Humlebæk, Denmark. Now, being back in Denmark on the occasion of the opening of his exhibition The Mechanical Age at Eighteen, Marc-Christoph Wagner has interviewed Futura 2000 for the museum's online channel. 

Futura 2000 was among the first graffiti artists to be shown in contemporary art galleries in the early 1980s. His paintings were shown at Patti Astor’s Fun Gallery and Tony Shafrazi, alongside those of his friends Keith Haring, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Rammellzee, DONDI, and Kenny Scharf. MoMA PS1 brought the artists together in their landmark 1981 New York / New Wave exhibition. He has collaborated with big fashion and lifestyle brands like Nike, BMW, Comme des Garçons, Louis Vuitton, and Off-White while simultaneously developing his fine art practice. In recent years he created collaborative works with Japanese artist Takashi Murakami, and he has exhibited at Kaikai KiKi, Gallery in Tokyo and his work has been shown at The New Museum, New York; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; the Groninger Museum, the Netherlands, to name a few. Now, in the age of 69, the artist shows no signs of stopping:

"I'm always you know I'm one day away from my best painting right so you know (..) yeah I've done some cool stuff and and I'm grateful and I'm proud of my work, but I could exceed that" - Futura 2000 

In the video, the pioneering artist demonstrates his aerosol technique while painting a large scale work featuring his signature spheres.. He reflects on the freedom of grafitti as an artform, and how he thinks grafitti kids have redefined painting. Watch the video "The City Is a Fantastic Gallery" featuring Futura 2000 to gain unique insight into the artist's process and philosophy on Louisiana Channel here.

The Mechanical Age, a solo exhibition by Futura 2000 is on view in Eighteen trough May 24. 2025. Please contact mail@v1gallery.com for any artwork inquiries.