JonOne

Starting from the subway trains and walls of Harlem, JonOne now paints abstract canvases where the gesture of graffiti survives. He is a Knight of the Legion of Honor.

Harlem, 1963

John Andrew Perello was born in 1963 in Harlem, New York, to parents from the Dominican Republic. Academic failure and family difficulties pushed him into the streets early on. He began tagging at seventeen and founded the 156 All Starz collective with other graffiti artists, known for their aerosol lettering.

Paris, 1987

His move to Paris in 1987 marked the transition from wall to canvas. He immersed himself in the Parisian art scene and worked alongside artists such as Speedy Graphito and LAII. The art world soon took notice: he exhibited in Berlin in 1990, and the following year participated in Paris Graffiti, where he painted on large formats.

Recognition

Decorated with the Legion of Honor in 2015, he created a work for the Palais Bourbon entitled "Liberté, égalité, fraternité," inspired by Eugène Delacroix.

Thumbnail: JonOne painting a Thalys train, photo urbanartcore.eu, CC BY-SA 2.0 license.