By Nancy Ryerson

The walls of the metro station are covered with graffiti. A barbershop offers “soul cutting,” and a doughnut shop gives a complementary weight loss pill with each pastry.

No ordinary metro stop, Metropolis is an exhibit of graffiti and street art at the DOX Centre for Contemporary Art in the Holešovice borough of Prague. The exhibit features artists Cryptic 257, Masker, Pasta, Point, Skarf and Tron, all of whom seek to capture city life and street art within a re-imagined gallery setting.

The artwork was originally shown at the Czech Pavilion at Expo 2010 in Shanghai, where the theme was Better City, Better Life. The Czech pavilion, with the theme of Fruits of Civilization, sought to depict the modern, evolving city.

A visitor unaccustomed to seeing street art in a gallery may be surprised at the exhibit’s graffiti-covered walls and cartoon-like sculptures.

“When I think graffiti, I think outdoor, not museum,” said Clara Braddick, one of several NYU students in Prague who attended the exhibit November 7. “Graffiti to me has a lot of value as public art. It became different in a museum.”

The exhibit makes an effort to treat the space differently from a traditional gallery. Visitors first enter what looks like a Prague metro stop from the future, complete with a sign that says “Můstek” and directional arrows to the exits. The front wall is covered with graffiti. A TV screen in the wall shows a video about Graffomat, a vending machine that purportedly dispenses spray paint for emergency graffiti situations. A sign on the only part of the wall without graffiti reads, “We apologize, the Streets need us. Your Graffomat team.” The installation, created by artist Cryptic 257, also contains a model of the Graffomat vending machine.

Further into the gallery is Pasta Oner’s Candy Shop, a mock-up of a small store where neon signs offer soul — not hair — cuts and gold for sale. Elsewhere the artist Point has created a model of a futuristic city connected with glowing red tubes. A blinking group of model skyscrapers spell out Tron, the handle of their creator.

The exhibit creates the illusion of an eerie dystopia powerful enough to make visitors forget their are visiting an art gallery.

“Graffiti being in a museum is counter-intuitive, so I was glad it was set up in a warehouse style gallery,” said NYU student Ivria Dubbs. “It made more sense.”

All of the artists have street credit as well as classical training in art schools in the Czech Republic, according to the exhibit’s website. Some of the artists also write for graffiti magazines, create movies and videos, illustrate books and animate films.

A street-art exhibition stands out in Prague, which is better known for its historic, preserved buildings. As such, it was a curious addition to the Czech Republic’s official representation at the Shanghai expo.

“Nowadays you can see historical heritage right next to super modern and ecologically friendly buildings,” said Mariana Trojanová, an NYU resident assistant who led the students on their tour of the exhibit. “I think graffiti and street art were part of the [Czech pavilion] because they also participate in the changing view of the city.”

NYU students did not necessarily see such changes as negative. “Graffiti is definitely a response to something, and I like that it kind of interacts with where it is,” Braddick said. “But if it’s on a historical building, then it’s just destructive and disrespectful.”

Trojanová pointed out that the potentially harmful effects of graffiti continue to make street art controversial in Prague. Some local residents view it as a nuisance and destruction of personal property.

The Metropolis exhibit suggests that, nonetheless, graffiti and street art may be a part of every city’s future — at least artistically.

“It was great to see graffiti in a museum because not everyone sees it as art,” Braddick said. “It builds an appreciation for good graffiti.”

Metropolis
October 15–December 31
DOX Centre for Contemporary Art
Poupětova 1, Prague 7–Holešovice
Tel. 774 145 434