BEYOND THE STREETS Brings Six Decades of Street Culture to Saatchi Gallery

Boom Box Kids - London - Martha Cooper - 1984

Kids on the way to the Beat Street premiere in London. 1984. Photo by Martha Cooper.  

Street culture has always had a complicated relationship with fashion. What begins outside the established system inevitably finds its way into it, influencing the clothes, imagery and attitudes that define menswear. BEYOND THE STREETS returns to London this November to examine that relationship across six decades of art, music and culture.

Opening at Saatchi Gallery from 11 November 2026 to 5 May 2027, the exhibition brings together more than 100 international artists and creators across ten rooms. Its scope runs from graffiti and street art to hip-hop, 2Tone, photography, activism and publishing, with paintings, sculpture, fashion, ephemera, installations, archives and new commissions.

GOLDIE_GUS CORAL 

GOLDIE spraying a can of Buntlack. Photo by Gus Coral.  

For menswear, the historical context is particularly relevant. Street culture has repeatedly challenged the boundaries between subculture and mainstream fashion, from the visual language of graffiti and hip-hop to the graphic identity of 2Tone. The exhibition includes original artwork connected to 2Tone icons Beat Girl and Walt Jabsco, alongside work by graffiti pioneers FUTURA 2000, LADY PINK and ZEPHYR.

There is also an extensive archive of English football firms’ calling cards, early Polaroids of US hip-hop figures dating from 1971, Normski’s photography, the archive of Hip-Hop Connection and a history of graffiti on the London Underground.

Other highlights include work by KAWS, Kenny Scharf, Jenny Holzer, Shepard Fairey and Damien Hirst, while Goldie represents the UK drum ’n’ bass scene. A dedicated activism section includes Neil Kenlock’s Black Panthers photography, the See Red Women’s Workshop archive and work by the Guerrilla Girls.

Janette Beckman -Specials.jpg 

The Specials posing in the rain at the seafront. Southend. 1980. Photo by Janette Beckman. 

BEYOND THE STREETS runs at Saatchi Gallery from 11 November 2026 until 5 May 2027.