BEYOND THE STREETS PRESENTS PINK CLOUD FROM GREY & FRIENDS
Los Angeles, CA (April 7, 2025) - BEYOND THE STREETS is pleased to present PINK CLOUD, the Los Angeles debut exhibition from GREY (Jonas Melvin). After nearly a decade of living in complete chaos, the legendary artist returns with a new exhibition alongside Alexis Ross, Alicia McCarthy, Angel Castro, Barry McGee, Cheryl Dunn, Dan Murphy, Dave Schubert, Elberto Muller, GKAE, Mark Cross, MERCH, Stephen ESPO Powers, Timothy Curtis, Todd James & others. PINK CLOUD brings installations, paintings and sculptures together for an immersive experience.
OPENING RECEPTION April 18, 2025 6 pm - 9 pm
As a teen in the late 90s in San Francisco, GREY was a part of the underground music, skateboarding, and graffiti scenes. He attended SFAI, graduating with a multidisciplinary BFA degree in fine art. GREY became a staple in what is often referred to as the golden era of San Francisco graffiti, championing a style and strategy which set the tone for a generation and remains the standard for post-millennium graffiti. He is credited for innovating a punchy, soft, and easily readable style which solidified his influence on style-writing and is one of the most copied, bitten, and influential artists of the global graffiti world for the last 25 years.
GREY feverishly traveled globally to paint streets and transit systems, including work with Barry McGee to contribute to and work on several of his installations. Unlike the traditional studio route, he preferred to work on the streets, racking to keep up his lifestyle.
At the height of GREY’s fame he disappeared for years, only to reappear on the subways of NYC under a secret moniker, where he garnered unwanted attention from the vandal squad. Seeking privacy, GREY took to the streets of the Kensington area of Philadelphia, which were both crime and drug-infested. Now, almost two years sober, GREY has overcome a decades-long battle with substance addiction and the subsequent lifestyle.
GREY’s firsthand relationship with streets, homelessness, and criminal behaviors inspires this new creative chapter of his life. He brings colorful enthusiasm and youthful charisma to the contrasting facets of his struggle, which he describes as having been every bit as beautiful as they were dark and tragic. The show's title, PINK CLOUD, comes from a phase in early sobriety of intense happiness and optimism.
BEYOND THE STREETS is partnering with Feed The Streets; a community-based, non-profit, that provides hot meals, clothing, and hygiene for people experiencing food insecurity and poverty. A portion of the show's proceeds will be donated to continue their work in Los Angeles.
“When I heard GREY’s story, I instantly related to it, as we come across so many individuals on the streets of LA in our outreach that have a similar story. To be able to help him on his journey of sobriety and healthy living through art is something we take pride in.” - Director of Operations and Co-Founder of FTS, Danny Khorunzhiy
PINK CLOUD is proudly supported by art patron and collector Craig Shapiro. Craig is the founder of Collaborative Fund, a venture capital firm that has been an early backer of culture-defining companies such as Kickstarter, Reddit, and Beyond Meat—businesses that have reshaped their industries and pushed the world forward.
"Having been immersed in the graffiti world since the early '90s—and living in San Francisco from 1999 to 2009, a transformative era for the city’s graffiti scene—I’ve always been a fan of GREY and will admit to biting his style more than once," said Shapiro. "Supporting organizations like Feed The Streets, which do incredible, much-needed work, while also collaborating with BEYOND THE STREETS and GREY to continue sharing their story, is deeply meaningful to me and my family."
Bringing his experience of prolific highs and lows, GREY presents PINK CLOUD as a beacon of positivity, highlighting the best even in the worst of circumstances. PINK CLOUD opens on April 18th, 2025 and remains on view at BEYOND THE STREETS through June 7th, 2025.
BEYOND THE STREETS
April 18, 2025 - June 7, 2025
Wed - Sun | 11am - 6pm
434 N La Brea Ave. | Los Angeles, CA 90036
About GREY
GREY (Jonas Melvin) has honed his techniques internationally on city streets, trains, and subways before moving to the studio. Obsessed with letterforms and visual text messages, carefully disarrayed alphabets taunt from his slick, colorful canvases where chaotic influences collide. Melvin has exhibited internationally as a guest artist at the Fondazione Prada in Milan, and locally at the San Francisco’s Arts Commission Gallery and many others.
About BEYOND THE STREETS
BEYOND THE STREETS was founded by Roger Gastman, producer of the 2010 Academy Award-nominated film, Exit Through the Gift Shop, co-curator of Art in the Streets (2011) at the MoCA in Los Angeles, and director of the SHOWTIME documentary Rolling Like Thunder (2021), a plunge into the underground world of freight train graffiti culture. BEYOND THE STREETS is an art-driven cultural and educational worldwide movement celebrating mark makers and rule breakers, agitators and instigators. Its curation showcases the best of contemporary and emerging artists, with a focus on graffiti and street art creators. Boasting over 100 artist collaborators per show, BEYOND THE STREETS is known for its massive-scale exhibitions, immersive educational experiences, and engaging pop-up events, which have played host to over 650,000 unique visitors between its shows in Los Angeles, New York, The Hamptons, London, Shanghai, and digital showcases with NTWRK. BEYOND THE STREETS exhibitions have produced over 2.5B media impressions through global art publications, business journals and culture magazines. BEYOND THE STREETS is widely recognized for its innovative brand partnerships and premium publications, which include over 75 published and authored book titles, including works for the likes of Martha Cooper, Felipe Pantone, POSE, Paul Insect, and Mister CARTOON, amongst others. BEYOND THE STREETS pushes the very idea of art beyond any preconceived boundary.
About Craig Shapiro
Craig Shapiro is the founder and Managing Partner of Collaborative Fund, an investment firm managing over $1 billion and backing companies that blend profit with purpose, such as Lyft, Reddit, and The Farmer’s Dog. A native of Washington, D.C., he previously made angel investments in groundbreaking companies like Facebook and Kickstarter.
https://collabfund.com/about/craig-shapiro
About Feed The Streets
Feed the Streets is a community-based non-profit that collects donated food, hygiene products, clothing, and educational items for hand-to-hand distribution.