A painting by Tancrede Perrot (Tanc). [Photo provided to China Daily]

JonOne's works are mostly abstract, characterized by their fluidity and abundance of movement. In 1987, JonOne moved to Paris, and since then has become a recognized contemporary artist. In 2015, he received France's Legion of honor.

JonOne has no training in painting. But as a youngster in the 1970s and 1980s he used to see graffiti by artists such as Crash on trains passing by in Harlem, New York.

Crash, born as John Matos, who is also featured at the exhibition, first made his mark by crashing the computer of the school. And, when he turned 13 he began to follow the older teens to train yards and began "bombing", which means to paint lots of surfaces in an area. His name then began to appear on trains moving through New York.

In 1980, Crash turned from train yards to galleries. And he curated the exhibition Graffiti Art Success for America at Fashion MODA, which was widely recognized as the landmark for the beginning of the graffiti movement.

Graffiti remains popular today as a core part of urban pop culture around the world, just like rap, hiphop and skateboarding, says Chang Hyun-ham, whose support made the exhibition possible in Shanghai.