Beyond The Streets

@ Saatchi Gallery

Date Taken: 23rd April 2023

I been looking forward to this one for a minute! And boy, did I get more than I bargained.

13 rooms of the Saatchi Gallery hosted Beyond The Streets: A celebration of Graffiti, Street Art, Hip-Hop, Punk and everything in between.

As a Hip-Hop student, you know I was very into this concept. The exhibition has been going on for a few years now with exhibitions in LA, NY, Shanghai and now London.

And something that made this unique is how much effort there was put into how Britain fits into the story of Hip-Hop, Punk & Graffiti. Having that focus on Britain’s history with the subjects made it so special as an experience.

Set Breakdown

Now I have 146 photos to share, which I think is the most for one post. So I’ll try to break things up with stuff I learnt or my personal favourites.

So buckle up!

Let’s begin with the first room where upon walking in, you’re presented with large murals and more once you begin walking down. (By the way I’m not going to break it down room-by-room because I don’t remember them all.)

Now I didn’t start doing this properly at the beginning of the visit but I wanted to get the placards of the creators as well because I think they deserve to have their names next to their work.

I’m going to try to put their placard and then their work. Hopefully it makes sense!

Next set!

And if you're wondering why some shots are white and some are warmer: I didn't like how the placards looked so I played with the white balance of them. I think it splits things up nicely for a set as large as this.

But in hindsight I think I played with white balance a bit too much with the rest of them. I don't typically mess with white balance because I like uniformity. Probably shouldn't have picked such a strong recipe but we live and learn!

Next set! Featuring a lot of Beastie Boys.

One of the things I learned is that GOLDIE is not just a generational musician, but also does fire art! Same with Fab 5 Freddy! They will both come up again later and they are immaculate.

Next set!

The Don Letts wall was such a pleasant surprise. And that’s what I meant when I was talking about the British elements of this exhibition. We saw it with GOLDIE as well and you’ll see more as we go.

I loved this particular part. Kind of built as a break period, you sit down in this hallway and just look up at all these messages. It’s quite overwhelming when you try to read it all and take them in.

Anyway, break over!

Big up Lawrence Watson. Outstanding individual room with some of his work displayed. Big fan of the Roxanne Shante & Run-DMC pics respectively.

This next set I’m a big fan of. So much to take in and a glut of great storytelling.

That was probably the most British room with its documentation of Graffiti arriving in the UK; how it was used for things like the Poll Tax and “G. Davis Is Innocent OK”.

I didn’t put it in the overall set but there was a nod to one of my favourite films ever in “The Warriors”. Highly recommend the film, the soundtrack and the game. All top tier.

Next set features a photography God in Glen E. Friedman, the legend MODE 2 and the aforementioned outstanding art by Fab 5 Freddy & GOLDIE:

And now to the final set where this area really was a dessert course of the highest order. Prepare for a lot of colour and a room that jarred the hell out of me once I stepped foot in it. You'll know what I mean when you see it…

Thanks for spinning and I implore you to go see the exhibition itself.