Futura 2000
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Futura 2000 is one of the most famous graffiti artists. He started to paint illegally on New York's subway in the early seventies, working with other artists such as ALI. More recently, he is a respected designer/gallery artist. One of the most unique features about Futura's work was his abstract approach to his style of graffiti. The primary focus of the average subway artist was lettering. Futura displayed a much broader focus; he mastered the ability to create interstellar scenes that set him apart from his peers. Futura's aerosol strokes could be as thin as the fine lines achieved only through the use of an airbrush.
His most prolific work is as an illustrator/designer of record sleeves, first becoming involved with The Clash; producing a sleeve for their Radio Clash 7" single and handwriting the sleeve notes and lyrics sheet for their LP Combat Rock. Years later James Lavelle resurrected his career by getting him, alongside Ben Drury, to produce the artwork for several releases on Mo' Wax records, this also led to Futura producing the imagery which has largely defined James Lavelle's UNKLE project. Recently much of Futura's artwork is channeled towards the production of highly collectible toys, and during the 1990's he was heavily involved with the clothing companies such as Subware, Phillie Blunt, Nike, and GFS.
[edit] Appearances in other media
More recently Futura 2000 has appeared in Marc Ecko's 2006 video game, Marc Ecko's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure .
He also appeared in Emile de Antonio's film In the King of Prussia as himself, creating the film's opening title as a graffiti mural. 5th
The Swedish rappers Looptroop mention Futura 2000 in their song Adrenaline Rush off their 5th album Modern Day City Symphony (2000)
Featured in John Mayer's video "Waitin on the World To Change"
