Futura 2000

Futura 2000 (born 1955) is an internationally acclaimed graffiti artist. He started to paint illegally on New York's subway in the early seventies, working with other artists such as ALI. More recently, he is a successful graphic designer and gallery artist. One of the most distinctive features about Futura's work is his abstract approach to graffiti art. While the primary focus, during the 1980s, of the majority of graffiti artists was lettering, Futura pioneered abstract street-art, which has since become more popular. Conversely, his aerosol strokes are regarded as different from those of his peers, as they are as thin as the fine lines achieved only through the use of an airbrush.

While he is an infamous graffiti artist, his most prolific work is as an illustrator and graphic designer of record sleeves, first becoming involved with The Clash; producing a sleeve for their "Radio Clash" 7" single and handwriting the sleeve notes and lyrics sheet for their LP Combat Rock. Years later James Lavelle resurrected his career by getting him, alongside Ben Drury, to produce the artwork for several releases on Mo' Wax records; this also led to Futura producing the imagery which has largely defined James Lavelle's UNKLE project.

Recently much of Futura's artwork is channeled towards the production of highly collectible toys, and during the 1990s he was heavily involved with clothing companies such as Subware, Phillie Blunt, Zoo York, Nike, and GFS.

Futura also deigns his own clothing label Futura Laboratories.

Appearances in other media

On The Clash's Combat Rock, Futura 2000 delivers a spoken word part on the song "Overpowered by Funk". The Clash also appeared on his song "The Escapades of Futura 2000.
In Emile de Antonio's 1982 film In the King of Prussia Futura 2000 creates the film's opening title as a graffiti mural.
On the album MiLight Futura's voice can be heard giving a shoutout to artist DJ Krush.
In DJ Mehdi's 2002 music video "Breakaway", Futura covers an entire room with his signature tags in black marker and spray paint.
In the 2005 film "Just For Kicks", about sneaker culture in hip hop, as himself.
John Mayer's 2006 music video "Waiting on the World to Change", alongside graffiti artists DAZE and the Tats Cru.
The 2006 video game Marc Ecko's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure as himself.