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What You Need to Know: Opening this week in Houston, Off the Wall Gallery will present “Burner: A Group Exhibition of International Street Artists.” Featuring an incredible range of well-known and regarded street and graffiti artists from around the world—from Banksy and Dalek to Zero Gradient and Magnus Gjoen—the show highlights the best in the field. The range of mediums shown will be equally diverse, including mixed media works, hand-signed prints, and hard-to-find posters. The gallery will be hosting three receptions, two opening receptions Saturday, March 25, and Sunday, March 26, as well as a closing reception April 15, 2023. For the RSVP-required opening receptions, visitors will be able to meet Berlin-based graffiti artist Simon Rohlen, better known as Kef!, whose work will also be on view. According to Kef!, the name means “scar,” which is how he considers art on walls, as an ineffaceable mark left by the hand of the artist. Inspired by spirituality, his mesmeric compositions aim to evoke balance and harmony in the viewer.
Why We Like It: The exhibition title “Burner,” draws from street art vernacular; a burner artwork is a complex, highly stylized, and frequently large work that “burns off the wall” due to its exceptionalism. Whether new to street and graffiti art or already an avid follower, the breadth and scope of works included in the show offer viewers the opportunity to experience a multitude of distinctive styles by creators hailing from around the world. Arguably more than any other genre of art making, street art and graffiti art are notoriously nimble and adaptive, with artists moving from prints and posters to paintings and collectibles. Instead of adhering to a specific medium, artists here have developed and honed their own bold, signature aesthetics which they use across platforms to express ideas and themes important to them. From Banksy’s irreverent depiction of the Madonna to KEF!’s meditative patterns and Zero Gradient’s use of old-school graffiti techniques and motifs, “Burner” offers an almost encyclopedic introduction to a massively popular generation of artists and genre of art.
According to the Gallery: “This is our first street-art exhibition since we opened forty-five years ago in Houston, and we can’t help it but to feel pretty cool! Our gallery represents artworks by incredible, fine contemporary artists and modern masters, and being able to offer works by amazingly talented, procured, street and urban artists creating artworks of aesthetic value immensely enhances our gallery’s collection oeuvre. It opens doors to new conversations around art, freedom of expression, current events, and a new generation of artists to watch.”— Mimi Sperber, principal and gallerist at Off the Wall Gallery
See works from the exhibition below.
Banksy, Toxic Mary (2021). Courtesy of Off the Wall Gallery, Houston.
Dotmaster, Line ‘Em Out (2019). Courtesy of Off the Wall Gallery, Houston.
Zero Gradient, Imogen – Red Light (2021). Courtesy of Off the Wall Gallery, Houston.
Magnus Gjoen, I’d Rather Be Happy Than Dignified (2016). Courtesy of Off the Wall Gallery, Houston.
Vinnie Nylon, A Touch of Lilac (2021). Courtesy of Off the Wall Gallery, Houston.
“Burner: A Group Exhibition of International Street Artists” is on view at Off the Wall Gallery, Houston, March 25–April 15, 2023.