With Beyond the Streets currently on view at Grande Halle de la Villette in Paris—from now until August 23, 2026—Roger Gastman reflects on his life and work as a storyteller, archivist and one of the foremost champions of graffiti culture. Above all, Gastman aspires to educate through entertainment.
In awe of the legendary American street artists of the ’90s, Gastman began taking photographs and trading graffiti prints as a teenager—an obsession that has unfolded into a uniquely multifaceted career spanning curation, anthropology, publishing and more. He recalls those early days as a time defined by community, loyalty, trust and mutual respect. These values would gradually form the foundations of Beyond the Streets.
He refers to himself as a ‘student’ of the streets and their artists. Gastman understands the power of teenage revelry, disruption and defiance. To him, this youthful bravery is sacred—something to be protected and celebrated. Beyond the Streets becomes both a megaphone and a magnifying glass: an attentive celebration of graffiti culture, its communities and the freedom that fuels them.
Gastman’s work speaks to the human need for public self-expression. There is an immediacy to the act of writing on walls: a primal need to say what you want, by any means necessary.
hube: Beyond the Streets is more than an exhibition title—it feels like a statement about movement, freedom, and a culture that refuses to stay in one place. When you started building this platform, what did you want people to understand about graffiti and street art beyond the usual stereotypes?
Roger Gastman: Beyond the Streets was born out of the first show we did at MOCA, in Los Angeles, Art in The Streets (2011). Now, you can see what these artists have gone on to achieve. So many have such incredible studio practices. And of course, a lot of them are still very active on the street.
But the goal was never to recreate what was done on the street. The goal was to show the evolution of these artists. Many have gone in completely different directions: from sculpture to pop art, figurative painting and ‘you name it’. Lots of them are still friends, but many of them don’t have a reason to exhibit together anymore. But through Beyond The Streets, they do.
It’s all about education through entertainment. We come up with the most nerdy, historical, ridiculous facts that even the artists in the show don’t know. We have that ‘oh wow’ moment, that ‘I can’t believe you pulled this off!’ moment.
h: Graffiti and street art often exist outside of our existing societal structures. They emerge from places of protest or passion. Many street artists value independence and distance from institutions, some prefer to remain elusive. How do you build trust with artists who may be naturally sceptical of the art world?
RG: I have known most of the artists for almost thirty years. We grew up in the 90s in a community where everyone was active on the streets. You could say I grew up being a student of a lot of them. As an insider, that trust is granted. Actually, I don’t know if I’d call it ‘trust’ as much as mutual respect.
Still, we worked hard for this trust. At different times in people’s careers, their work is completely different, stylistically, et cetera. Our curation has to respect these differences. It’s a large part of the success of the shows: how things are placed, how the work lives in the space.
