JonOne

Nueva York, 1963

JonOne (born John Andrew Perello, 1963), also known as Jon156, is an American graffiti artist. Originally from New York, he lives and works in Paris.

JonOne was born in New York’s Harlem neighborhood to parents from the Dominican Republic. Growing up in Harlem, his introduction to street art began when he would see graffiti and tags on subway cars and city walls. When he was 17 he entered the world of graffiti with his childhood friend “White Man,” tagging his name Jon with the numbers 156 on walls and trains in his neighborhood. He said, “The subway is a museum that runs through the city“.

In 1984, he founded the graffiti group 156 All Starz, in order to bring together their passion for painting trains at night and to help forget about their problems, including drug use. At this time, he met the artist Bando, who was living in New York. Following an invitation from Bando, JonOne moved to Paris in 1987.

He began his work as a painter on canvas in a workshop at the Hospital Ephemeral, a literal hospital building...