Visitors watch US graffiti artist JonOne painting at the exhibition's opening at MoCA Shanghai on Jan 24. [Photo provided to China Daily]

"It has swept through cities around the world like a tidal wave, leaving behind indelible memories of youth," Lim says.

The eight featured artists came of age in the 1970s and 1980s, and have a shared background.

They are pioneers who moved from the margins of cities into the center of the art world, according to Lim.

"And together they have punched holes through wall after wall between the 1970s and 2019, and between the East and the West," says Lim.

In China there are very few graffiti artists recognized by established institutions, says Sun, and collectors of graffiti in China are even fewer.

"So, we hope that visitors to MoCA Shanghai can experience the urban moments and traces captured and rendered by the artists, moved by their passion for art, and their path-breaking courage."

zhangkun@chinadaily.com.cn