Collection: Futura 2000
Futura 2000 (Leonard Hilton McGurr, born 1955 in New York) is the pioneer of abstraction in graffiti — the man who brought non-figurative painting into a movement devoted to lettering. Galerie Bonnet-Abelin, champion of the great figures of New York graffiti in Lyon, presents his work to French and Swiss collectors.
The subway, the break, the legend
As a teenager, Futura painted New York subway cars from the early 1970s. After an accident in the tunnels that left a lasting mark on his generation, he enlisted in the US Navy and travelled the world — a parenthesis from which he returned transformed. In 1980, his fully abstract whole car “Break” came as a revolution: where graffiti meant lettering, Futura proposed atomised fields of colour, lines as thin as trajectories, a cosmic vocabulary all his own. The downtown scene embraced him at once: he showed at Patti Astor's Fun Gallery and took part in 1981 in the mythical “New York/New Wave” exhibition at P.S.1, alongside Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring. That same year he toured with The Clash, painting live on stage during the concerts — the meeting of punk and graffiti, captured on the sleeve of “This Is Radio Clash”.
From the Pointman to worldwide collaborations
His atoms, concentric circles and totemic character, the Pointman, have spread far beyond the canvas: cult Mo'Wax and UNKLE sleeves in the 1990s, then collaborations with Supreme, Nike, BMW, Comme des Garçons and Louis Vuitton — Futura is one of the artists who invented the dialogue between urban art and streetwear culture. Institutional recognition followed: in 2024-2025 the Bronx Museum devoted to him his first major New York retrospective, “Futura 2000: Breaking Out”, confirming a unique place in the history of American art — that of graffiti's first abstract painter, still at work, whose market has been rising steadily.
Futura 2000 and Galerie Bonnet-Abelin
With Futura 2000, the gallery completes its ensemble devoted to the New York pioneers — John “Crash” Matos, Quik, JonOne — and pursues its line: presenting in Lyon, and soon in Geneva, the historic figures who took graffiti from the street to the museum. Works and projects will be unveiled soon; collectors wishing to be informed first are welcome to get in touch now.
Acquiring a work by Futura 2000
The gallery assists collectors interested in Futura 2000's work: advice, sourcing, full documentation. Each work comes with a certificate of authenticity. The gallery, currently preparing its Geneva location, also assists Swiss and international collectors. Prices and documentation upon request: contact@galeriebonnetabelin.com.
