When you think of FUTURA, you always lean toward's thinking of an artist ahead of his time. He is synonymous with experimentation, and his namesake was part of a major movement of graffiti become more and more abstract and fine art moving more toward the freedom made famous from graffiti. FUTURA is key to this exchange, street to gallery, gallery to street. And now, he is once again experimenting with new surfaces and applications, with his TARPESTRIES solo show with Eric Firestone in East Hampton being created on tarps and presented unstretched and unframed. 

As the gallery notes, "Comprising more than 20 paintings, ranging from 7 to 25 feet, the works on view explore what FUTURA playfully refers to as his “Van Wrinkle” approach, a fragmenting technique in which the artist spray paints on industrial tarps instead of canvas. The resulting works are realized in both monochromatic hues as well as full-color applications and feature textured, highly paint-saturated surfaces. While embracing a new process and medium for the artist, this body of work marks a return to FUTURA's roots in a purist form— with a progressive use of spray paint and a colossal scale not seen since his early days working in situ. The artist will also present a new sculpture in bronze." 

This is a return to a confidence with scale, taking the outside canvas of his youth with a raw edge in a gallery setting. It just shows that FUTURA can still surprise and innovate, still have fun with experimentation and his iconic abstraction. —Evan Pricco