A Guide to Futura: 4 Characteristics of Futura’s Work

Leonard Hilton McGurr, commonly known as Futura, is one of the early forces of the subway graffiti art movement and a pioneer of abstract street art. His career has taken numerous turns, spanning the worlds of graffiti art, music, fashion, product, and formal gallery and fine art painting.

Born in 1955 in New York City, Futura gleaned early inspiration from the future-forward 1964–1965 World’s Fair and Stanley Kubrick’s sci-fi epic 2001: A Space Odyssey, the latter of which informed his nom de guerre. He began writing graffiti under the pseudonym Futura 2000, painting New York subway cars alongside his childhood friend Marc André Edmonds, a.k.a. ALI in the early 1970s. Futura and ALI would eventually form the Soul Artists, a collective that explored how graffiti would evolve as a new form of public art.

In the early 1980s, he also participated in The Times Square Show, proclaimed “the first radical art show of the ‘80s” by the Village Voice. His works were also included in group and solo exhibitions at the P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, Tony Shafrazi Gallery, Eric Firestone Gallery, the Galerie du Jour Agnès B., the Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles, and the FUN Gallery alongside street art luminaries Jean-Michel Basquiat and Kenny Scharf. In 1997, he launched his own studio and brand platform, Futura Laboratories, to ensure that his work would continue reaching audiences beyond the canvas. The brand sells streetwear clothing, toys, and other collectibles, and opened a retail store in Fukuoka, Japan, in 2004.

Futura lists many artists as major influences, including Jean-Michel Basquiat (a.k.a. SAMO©), Keith Haring, Wayne Roberts (a.k.a. Stay High 149), Eddie Rodriguez (a.k.a. Snake 1), and Andy Warhol.

With over 50 years of artwork and collaborations across various fields, Futura’s body of work is especially eclectic and difficult to pin down—here are a few unifying qualities that he tends to incorporate regularly:

1. 1. Abstractionism: Futura’s biggest contribution to the world of street art—and the key characteristic of his work as a whole—is his allegiance to abstractionism. At a time when most street art was based on lettering, Futura opted for splashes of color and shapes, revolutionizing the idea of graffiti and still groundbreaking today.
2. 2. Color: True to his street art roots and sensibilities, Futura’s work is an array of arresting colors—many of his works incorporate several bright shades of red, cadmium, or blue, often on off-white canvases.
3. 3. Spray paint: While Futura is comfortable working in a wide range of mediums, from oil paint to ink, he is most closely associated with his spray paint work, and the majority of his works incorporate aerosol paint as an integral part of his street art roots.
4. 4. Variety: A core principle of Futura’s career is eclecticism, and to that end, he’s explored a wide array of objects beyond subway trains and the art world’s simple canvas. You can see Futura’s work on cognac bottles, toys and collectibles, paper lanterns, BMW M2s, and print publications.

Artist collaboration, or the practice of two or more artists coming together to work on a shared piece of art, is at the heart of Futura’s career. He has taken on creative endeavors with several notable partners, from Comme des Garçons to Supreme to Takashi Murakami. His artwork has appeared on bobbleheads, clothing (including Japan-based brands Uniqlo and A Bathing Ape), Nike shoes, and limited edition bicycles. Here are a few of Futura’s major collaborators over the years:

1. 1. Marc André Edmonds (a.k.a. ALI): One of Futura’s early collaborators, Edmonds was a visionary American graffiti artist and critical thinker. Writing under the graffiti tag ALI, he co-founded the Soul Artists collective.
2. 2. Josh Franklin (a.k.a. Stash): An influential graffiti artist during the 1980s, Franklin teamed up with Futura in the 1990s on early streetwear T-shirt designs and product development. Those collaborations, and their GFS fashion label, are major touchstones of the decade.
3. 3. James Lavelle: In the 1990s, Futura collaborated with the hip-hop record company Mo’ Wax, founded by James Lavelle, to create designs for music releases (as the artist Futura 2000). Futura created a visual style for another of Lavelle’s projects, the musical outfit UNKLE.
4. 4. The Clash: In 1981, Futura began collaborating with English punk band the Clash, for whom he painted an enormous backdrop, which can be seen in the music video for “This Is Radio Clash.” They invited him on tour, where he was able to introduce audiences around the globe to his artwork, painting live during shows and even performing the rap verse that he co-wrote for the band’s song “Overpowered by Funk,” in Paris and London.
5. 5. Donald White (a.k.a. DONDI): White’s innovative large block letter motif has been immortalized in the numerous photos documenting his process. Sometimes writing under the name NACO, he famously accompanied Futura to the railyard to paint the Break train, one of Futura’s most well-known works.

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