Kung Fu Wildstyle

To celebrate the new National Museum of African American History and Culture, we present a month-long exhibition and program series highlighting connections between African American and East Asian art, music, and film. The exhibition, Kung Fu Wildstyle, explores pop culture through contemporary street art, featuring works by legendary street artist and hip-hop impresario Fab 5 Freddy and Hong Kong graffiti and hip-hop pioneer MC Yan. They examine how Bruce Lee and kung fu affected New York City’s street culture and emerging hip-hop scene in the 1970s. Fab and MC Yan also show how this influence came full circle when hip-hop inspired a generation of Hong Kong street kids in the 1990s. Their paintings, which have previously popped up in New York, Shanghai, and Hong Kong, are enhanced by concerts, talks, and film screenings throughout April.