HK Walls was behind Tools of The Trade: the definitive exhibition highlighting the technological advances of the graffiti writing community, from home-made markers to robot drones, supported by Montana Colors.


The work of Shepard Fairey, 1UP Crew and Earsnot formed part of the show, which ran from 8 May to 6 June in Central Hong Kong and centered around the myriad mechanisms that graffiti artists have employed to carry out their work over the years.

Staring with the proto-graffiti of local legend The King of Kowloon who got up in the Hong Kong streets in the 1950’s, the exhibition featured the tools appropriated by writers from the USA in the 1970’s and 80’s to custom-designed paints and inks of the present day.

The exhibition is a homage to the ingenuity of individual artists and crews who have adopted materials available at any given time to carry out their work in the biggest, fastest or most original way possible.

From mops to rollers, modified caps to abseiling equipment, the show demonstrates the advances made over the years to push limits of graffiti style writing. A glimpse of the future came in the form of a programmable flying drone that is capable of painting inaccessible points on buildings.

Curated by the HKWalls team Jason Dembski, Stan Wu and Maria Wong, the exhibition also included RJ Rushmore, David “Chino” Villorente and Adam Void from Cut in the Fence in the extended curatorial team, enabling the impressive collection of artefacts from the United States.

The show was completed by a selection of more than 80 photographs from the archives of Martha Cooper and a wall of tags featuring the hands of Haze, Skuf, Claw, Reas and many more.

HKWalls plan to tour the exhibition, with details still to be confirmed. Make sure you follow them on Instagram to keep up to date with all the latest from Hong Kong.

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