Graffiti City

Graffiti City takes visitors on an immersive journey through the history of local graffiti and reveals the diversity of graffiti as an art form. The exhibition brings together graffiti artists from different generations, from the 1990s to the present day.

The exhibition tells the story of the city’s vibrant graffiti history and the artists who have left their mark on Jyväskylä’s urban landscape over the decades. At the same time, it offers visitors a key to understanding this multifaceted culture.

Jyväskylä is known as an exceptionally vibrant graffiti city. The city has a soul larger than its size, one that breathes urban culture. On the streets, you can encounter high-quality graffiti art almost anywhere. The Graffiti City exhibition brings this street art form into the museum, where visitors can explore its aesthetics, history and expressive power in a unique setting.

The exhibition offers visitors a chance to explore graffiti artists’ sketchbooks, treasures from photographic archives, stories and tools. The beauty of Jyväskylä’s more than 40-year graffiti history unfolds through paintings, press clippings, sculptures, installations, videos and graffiti works created by artists from different generations of the local graffiti scene. Most of the works have been created specifically for the exhibition.

“Graffiti is energy bound to walls, a triumph of independence and creativity. Through its unruliness, it creates new meanings in every space it finds its way into. This time, graffiti is taking over the art museum, covering it with works and secrets that people outside graffiti culture would not normally get to see,” says visual artist Jukka Silokunnas.

Exhibition artists: Arttu Martikainen, Mauno Leppänen, Matti Mikkilä, Jukka Silokunnas, Eman, Desra, Leksa, Jees, Riot, Rives, Bait, Meter, Knox, Irs, as well as a large number of anonymous artists.

Two new graffiti-themed publications will be launched on the exhibition’s opening day on 19 September: Momentti – Läpileikkaus Jyväskylän graffitiin 2020-luvulla, produced by Jyväskylä Art Museum, and colouring book JKL graffitivärityskirja. The opening will also feature a presentation of a new book documenting Jyväskylä’s graffiti history from the 1990s to the early 2000s.

The exhibition has been supported by the Finnish Heritage Agency.