Under the auspices of the First Lady of the Republic of Cyprus, Mrs Philippa Karsera Christodoulides
In the presence of the Mayor of Limassol, Mr Yiannis Armeftis
LOCATION
KOOL Gallery, 30 Anexartisias Street, 3036 Limassol, Cyprus
ICONS is the inaugural exhibition of KOOL Gallery, bringing together pioneering figures of graffiti, legendary writers, leading voices of street and urban art and internationally acclaimed contemporary artists. Across 96 works by 28 artists, it traces more than five decades of a culture that began on the streets of Philadelphia and New York and went on to change art across the world.
OVERVIEW
The exhibition traces graffiti’s journey from its early emergence in Philadelphia and its development on the streets and subway trains of New York to its transformation into a global artistic language. What began with the writing of names and identities in public space developed into an increasingly sophisticated visual culture of lettering, colour, scale, composition and image-making — one that would extend far beyond its original urban context, entering galleries, museums and major collections around the world while continuing to thrive in public space.
Early figures such as Cornbread and TAKI 183 represent the formative culture of writing and tagging. Blade, Lee Quiñones, SEEN, Dr. Revolt, FUTURA 2000, SKEME, Lady Pink, CRASH, DAZE, Toxic, Cey Adams and COPE2 reflect the extraordinary expansion that followed. Across the streets, subway system and emerging downtown art scene of New York, these artists developed distinctive approaches to lettering, colour, characters, abstraction and image-making, helping to establish graffiti as a complex and influential visual language.
As graffiti travelled beyond New York, its vocabulary crossed geographical and cultural boundaries, influencing generations of artists and exerting an enduring impact on art, graphic design, fashion, music and visual culture internationally.
As artistic intervention in public space continued to evolve, street art emerged as a related but distinct international phenomenon. Banksy, through his distinctive use of stencil, image and text, became one of its most influential figures, bringing street art to an unprecedented global audience and helping to transform perceptions of art made in public space. The international development of graffiti and urban art is further reflected through AIKO, C215, Pro176 and FAKE, whose diverse practices show how the languages of the street have evolved across different cultural contexts, and through RETNA, who emerged from the Los Angeles scene with a calligraphic language rooted in graffiti lettering.
The continuing tradition of writing and tagging is represented by TOX and 10Foot, whose repeated names and interventions across the urban environment demonstrate the enduring power of the tag as one of graffiti’s most direct and fundamental forms.
The exhibition extends beyond graffiti and street art to their wider dialogue with contemporary art, through works by Kenny Scharf, Damien Hirst, Hervé Di Rosa, Peter Klasen, Katherine Bernhardt and Robert Nava. Bringing distinct artistic histories and visual languages into conversation, their presence opens unexpected points of connection across gesture, colour, popular culture, experimentation and artistic freedom.
Rather than presenting graffiti as a completed historical chapter, ICONS considers it a living and continually evolving practice. Over more than five decades, graffiti and the artistic languages that grew around it have transformed public space, challenged conventional definitions of artistic legitimacy and exerted a profound influence on contemporary visual culture. Together, the works reveal a history defined by experimentation, independence and the continual expansion of artistic possibility.
VISITING
The exhibition is on view from 17 October 2026 to 31 March 2027, by appointment.
ICONS runs across two floors. A guide to the artists is available in the gallery.
AIKO · Banksy · Blade · C215 · Cey Adams · COPE2 · Cornbread · CRASH · Damien Hirst · DAZE · Dr. Revolt · FAKE · FUTURA 2000 · Hervé Di Rosa · Katherine Bernhardt · Kenny Scharf · Lady Pink · Lee Quiñones · Peter Klasen · Pro176 · RETNA · Robert Nava · SEEN · SKEME · TAKI 183 · TOX · Toxic · 10Foot
EXHIBITION CATALOGUE
EXHIBITION LEAFLET