JonOne, a leading figure in the graffiti movement of the 1980s and 1990s [Photo provided to China Daily]

The 55-year businessman from South Korea began to collect graffiti art 15 years ago, and is among prominent collectors in the world.

Chang says graffiti began from a pop culture movement in the 1980s, and has developed into an important part of contemporary art, "just like Michelangelo to the Renaissance".

The exhibition has been co-curated by MoCA Shanghai's executive director Sun and Jisoo Lim, who is an independent exhibition organizer from South Korea.

Street art as a subculture was born on the streets of New York, and has become a symbol of the contemporary age and artistic intervention in modern life, says Lim.

Graffiti is about expressing messages from the heart in colorful images and striking texts that demand and command our gaze.