BEYOND THE STREETS just opened a new exhibition, BEYOND THE STREETS on Paper, at the Southampton Arts Center in Southampton, New York, featuring over 500 works from over 100 artists dedicated to the medium of works on paper. The exhibition will bring together a new perspective on the shifting dialogues in contemporary art. This will be the first exhibition in an ongoing collaboration between BEYOND THE STREETS and Southampton Arts Center in the coming years. Located in the middle of Southampton Village, the historic 150 year-old building that houses the Southampton Arts Center presents an intimate venue to showcase the BEYOND THE STREETS series. The show was curated by Kim Stephens and Evan Pricco.

BEYOND THE STREETS On Paper is both a historical homage to the earliest mark makers and rule breakers and a celebration of an essential practice seen throughout contemporary art. The show explores experimental processes to imaginative works seen on paper from artists who trained in, and were inspired by, graffiti, street art, hip-hop, punk rock, zines and underground art. The exhibition explores that, with a democratization of materials and surface, the intricateness of the ever-growing movement is both unique and revolutionary. 

One of the defining traits of the underground art movements presented in this showcase are their historical roots in creating a space of inclusion and acceptance. As the contemporary art world excelled in a sort of gatekeeper curation, the art coming from these outsider cultures was immersed in shattering the status quo's definition of what art was and will be. BEYOND THE STREETS On Paper champions the legacy of that historical challenge to authority, presenting a contemporary dialogue of individual expression through a powerful and self-governing community. That the works are on paper, a medium of intimacy, immediacy and the seeds of this culture's growth into an international phenomenon, makes for a fresh approach to understanding the immense changes we have seen in contemporary art and society over the last 50 years.

In the past, in two massive shows in Los Angeles and Brooklyn, BEYOND THE STREETS has helped create an entirely new historical lexicon for which to look at contemporary art. During the pandemic and social justice movement in America and around the globe since mid-2020, it felt like an important step to facilitate a more intimate conversation. From up and coming talents like Khari Turner and Sofia Enriquez to some of the most influential names in art like Shepard Fairey and Swoon, this is about studying a centuries old practice and allowing the generations to speak to each other on equal ground.