Seventy-five years after the invention of the spray can, Centraal Museum is the first museum in the Netherlands to trace the mutual influences between graffiti and contemporary art along an art-historical timeline. This autumn, the museum presents Graffiti, an exhibition featuring almost 120 works that connect the practice of graffiti pioneers and renowned artists such as Jean-Michel Basquiat, Blade, Keith Haring, Lady Pink, Klara Lidén, Charlotte Posenenske and Rammellzee.

Bart Rutten, Artistic Director of Centraal Museum: ‘Graffiti is often approached in museums as a subcultural phenomenon. This exhibition tells a different story: that of graffiti as an integral part of art history. In doing so, we demonstrate the profound influence graffiti has had on the visual arts over the past decades.’

Graffiti and artistic development
The exhibition begins with artists who, between the 1950s and 1970s, experimented with spray paint as a new artistic medium. It then presents paintings by influential graffiti writers from the 1980s alongside works by contemporary artists who have, knowingly or not, incorporated graffiti into their practice in a variety of ways. The result is a fresh perspective on graffiti: not as an isolated art form, but as part of a broader artistic development. Bringing together transdisciplinary works from across a 70 year period, the exhibition offers a rich overview of graffiti’s impact on the visual arts and vice versa. The spray can served as a recurring tool, connecting the exhibition’s various narratives.

Highlights from the collection
Centraal Museum is home to a leading collection of paintings connected to New York graffiti. Graffitipresents several key works from this collection, alongside rarely exhibited pieces. Highlights include a monumental black-and-white canvas by Keith Haring (2 × 4 metres) and two futuristic diptychs by Rammellzee from the Wildenberg Collection that is on long term loan of the Centraal Museum – works that are seldom seen together in this context.

About the exhibition
The exhibition, initiated by Museion – Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Bolzano/Bozen, is the result of a collaboration between Centraal Museum and Museion. It is co-curated by Catrien Schreuder, Museion curator Leonie Radine and New York-based artist and archivist Ned Vena (b.1982 Boston, USA). Vena’s artistic practice is strongly influenced by his active practice as a graffiti writer and his research into the history of graffiti; and vice versa, his thorough studies of the history of painting also shaped his understanding of graffiti. Both his personal dedication and his interdisciplinary archival knowledge are reflected in the exhibition. The first version of the exhibition was on view at Museion from 29 March through 14 September 2025, curated by Leonie Radine and Ned Vena. The exhibition at the Centraal Museum, co-curated by Catrien Schreuder, builds upon this. Components of the exhibition were curated in close collaboration with Creative Lab Utrecht, Henny Overbeek, the Dutch Graffiti Library in Amsterdam, and Mick La Rock.

Graffiti
10 October 2026 – 29 March 2027
Centraal Museum Utrecht

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Participating artists
Yuji Agematsu, Nick Atkins, Charles Atlas, Lutz Bacher, Martin Barré, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Blade, Patricia L. Boyd, Dan Christensen, Shaun Crawford, Curtis Cuffie, René Daniëls, Daze, Manuel DeLanda, Melvin Edwards, Heike-Karin Föll, Futura 2000, Keith Haring, Jenny Holzer & Lady Pink, Jean, KAYA, Jutta Koether, Brad Kronz, Maggie Lee, Klara Lidén, Ilya Lipkin, Colette Lumiere, Kunle Martins, Jeanette Mundt, Georgie Nettell, Armando Nin, N.O. Madski, Henny Overbeek, Clayton Patterson, PHASE 2, Charlotte Posenenske, Josephine Pryde, Quik, Lee Quiñones, Carol Rama, Rammellzee, R.I.P. Germain, Rhone, Mick La Rock, Matthew “Zexor” Rodriguez, Karin Sander, Han Schuil, Shave, Shoe, Seen, David Smith, Dash Snow, Ben Solomon, Hedda Sterne, Emily Sundblad, Boris Tellegen, SoiL Thornton, Timer, Alix Vernet, Vincent Vlasblom, WANTO, Lawrence Weiner, Dondi White, Martin Wong, and Zephyr.