The Málaga-born artist is taking part in Beyond the Streets, a group exhibition dedicated to the influence of urban culture on contemporary art.
Julio Anaya is joining Beyond the Streets, the upcoming exhibition at Saatchi Gallery, London, bringing together more than a hundred artists connected to urban culture and contemporary art. The exhibition opens on 11 November 2026 and runs until 5 May 2027.
The exhibition brings together different generations and approaches to urban art, with artists including Damien Hirst, KAWS, JR, Invader, Shepard Fairey, Futura 2000, Lady Pink, Kenny Scharf and VHILS, among others.
For the occasion, Anaya will present an installation conceived specifically for the exhibition, comprising 16 works. The project continues one of the central lines of his practice: exploring art history through reproduction, trompe-l’œil and popular culture.
His proposal draws on the idea of the Wunderkammer, or cabinet of curiosities: spaces where artworks, everyday objects, archaeological pieces, specimens and other extraordinary artefacts were brought together without a fixed hierarchy. Anaya translates this idea into his own visual language, combining references from art history with images and objects associated with contemporary and street culture.
His participation in Beyond the Streets marks a new context for a practice developed around the relationship between art, urban space and popular culture. His interventions and paintings often take recognisable works from art history as a starting point, transforming them through the use of cardboard, found materials and weathered surfaces.
Among the works that form part of this trajectory is his distinctive reinterpretation of Pablo Picasso’s Guernica, painted on fragments of salvaged cardboard and subsequently presented in different exhibition contexts.
With Beyond the Streets, Saatchi Gallery continues to explore the evolution of urban art, from its early manifestations in graffiti to its presence in museums, galleries and international institutions. Anaya’s participation adds a perspective that brings together art history, popular culture and street culture.
