The Speerstra Gallery presents the artist's major periods and the fruit of his collaboration with gallery owner Willem Speerstra in an exceptional retrospective exhibition.
JonOne"Retrospective" 20 years / 1990 - 2010
A large selection of works from the collaboration between the artist and galerist Willem Speerstra.
Of Dominican origin, John Perello was born in the Harlem district of New York in 1963. At the age of 17, he began tagging "Jon", initiated by his childhood friend White Man, tagging his name Jon followed by 156 (his street) on the walls and trains of his neighborhood, then those of all New York. In his words, "The subway is a museum that crosses the city.
He created the 156 All Starz graffiti collective in 1984, to unite their passion for painting trains at night and forget their problems, especially drugs. He then met Bando, who was living in New York at the time, and crossed paths with Rockin' Squat at Danceteria, a famous nightclub in the city at the time. Following an invitation from Bando, he saved his money and went to Paris in 1987. He began to graffiti with him, Boxer and the BBC Crew. He began painting on canvas in a studio at the Hôpital éphémère with A-One, Sharp, Ash (Victor Ash), JayOne and Skki, without abandoning graffiti. He soon made a name for himself in Parisian art circles with his works on canvas at exhibitions.
In 1990, he exhibited at Gallery Gleditsch 45 in Berlin, and in 1991 took part in the "Paris Graffiti" exhibition on rue Chapon in Paris. In November 1992, he had his first solo show at Speerstra Gallery in Monaco and at Michel Gillet's Speerstra Gallery in Paris. Since then, he has been exhibiting all over the world: Tōkyō, Monaco, Paris, Geneva, New York, Hong Kong and Brussels.
