Tim Conlon (born 1974 in Alexandria, Virginia) is an American artist and graffiti writer known for large-scale murals and works on canvas. He was featured as one of several artists (including Kehinde Wiley and poet, Nikki Giovanni) in the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery exhibit, Recognize! Hip Hop and Contemporary Portraiture,Jess Blumberg, "Aerosol Art", Smithsonian Magazine, February 2008. which included four large graffiti murals painted by Conlon and collaborator, David Hupp in 2008. This marked the first modern graffiti ever to be in the Smithsonian Institution.Allison Keyes, "National Portrait Gallery Hosts Hip-Hop Exhibit", NPR, February 9, 2008.
In 2011, he curated the G scale train exhibit in the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art’s, Art in The Streets survey of graffiti and street art.
In 2020 his work was featured in Sotheby's first ever Hip-Hop Auction.Jacqueline Schneider, "Did The $2 Million Hip-Hop Auction At Sotheby's Do The Culture Justice?", Forbes, September 17, 2020. Conlon also produced the 2021 documentary, Rolling Like Thunder, a film about freight train graffiti produced by Mass Appeal and released on Showtime.
His Blank Canvas train paintings are in multiple collections, including the Norfolk Southern Corporation's headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. Conlon's art can be found on the streets of Washington, D.C., in city-sponsored public art projects.Ann Siegal, "A bold experiment in urban art", The Washington Post, January 15, 2010.Harry Jaffe, "Graffiti as art for summer youth jobs? Believe it!", The Washington Examiner, August 19, 2010. Conlon has exhibited at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, along with shows and projects in New York,Brook S. Mason, "Anti-Frieze Art Fairs Abound in Brooklyn", The New York Times, May 2, 2018.Jasper Rees, "Street Art Way Below the Street", The New York Times, October 31, 2010. Los Angeles,"Photoreal Folk: Tim Conlon and Train Culture For "BEYOND THE STREETS"", Juxtapoz, April 27, 2018.Jeanette Sawyer, "Interview: Tim Conlon's "One Track Mind"", Juxtapoz, June 6, 2014. Miami,"Sanrio's Small Gift – Miami", Hi-Fructose, February 2008. Chicago,Asja Nastasijevic, "TRANSIT", WideWalls, May 30, 2014. San Francisco,Caitlin Donohue, "Graffiti, now: Guerrero Gallery shows USDA prime street writers", The San Francisco Bay Guardian, August 28, 2012. London, ParisMang, Lolita. Beyond The Streets, la première exposition dédiée au street art, s'installe à la Grande Halle de la Villette. Vogue France. June 2026.Debackere, Marius. Au Petit Palais, le street art fait comme chez lui. Enlarge Your Paris. June 2026., BordeauxRousset, Vincent. Tim Conlon : «American Graffiti». La Vie Economique du Sud Ouest. June 2016. and Berlin.
Exhibitions
WE ARE [still] HERE, Petit Palais, Paris, France (Group) 2026 BEYOND THE STREETS Paris, Grande Halle de la Villette, Paris, France (Group) 2026 Appointment Only, BEYOND THE STREETS Gallery, Los Angeles, CA (Group) 2025 BEYOND THE STREETS: Post Graffiti, Southamptons Art Center, Southampton, NY (Group) 2024 Tracks of Time, Control Gallery, Los Angeles, CA (Solo) 2023 BEYOND THE STREETS Shanghai, Jingan International Center, Shanghai, China (Group) 2023 BEYOND THE STREETS London, Saatchi Gallery, London, England (Group) 2023 Sotheby's Hip Hop Auction, Sotheby's, New York, New York (Group) 2020 BEYOND THE STREETS NYC, 25 Kent, New York, NY (Group) 2019 BEYOND THE STREETS, Werkartz, Los Angeles, CA (Group) 2018 Moniker Art Fair, The Old Truman Building, London, UK (Group) 2017 Between the Lines, Roman Fine Art, East Hampton, NY 2017 Cruel Summer, Jonathan LeVine Gallery, New York City (Group) 2014 Transit, Vertical Gallery, Chicago (Group) 2014 One Track Mind, The Seventh Letter, Los Angeles 2014 Pump Me Up: D.C. Subculture of the 1980s, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC (Group) 2013 Art in the Streets, Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art (LA MOCA), Los Angeles (Group) 2011 Sanrio's Small Gift, Miami (Group) 2010 The Underbelly Project, New York City (Group) 2010 les grandes Traversées, Cortex Athletico, Bordeaux (Group) 2010 Black in Black w/Mark Jenkins, The Fridge, Washington, DC (Split) 2010 Recycled Meaning: Oil and Water, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC (Group) 2009 BOMBS AWAY!, Strychnin Gallery, Berlin (Curator/Group) 2009 MANIFESTHOPE:DC, The Manifest Hope: DC Gallery, Washington, DC (Group) 2009 Recognize! Hip Hop and Contemporary Portraiture, Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, Washington, DC (Group) 2008 400ML Project, Maison des Métallos, Paris (Group) 2008
Bibliography Gastman, Roger. BEYOND THE STREETS. May 2018. LTD. Sanrio Company, and Roger Gastman. Hello Kitty, Hello Art! Abrams, October 2012. Workhorse, PAC, and Haze. We Own the Night: The Art of the Underbelly Project. Rizzoli Books, February 2012. Deitch, Jeffrey, Roger Gastman, and Aaron Rose. Art in the Streets. Skira Rizzoli, April 2011. Gastman, Roger and Caleb Neelon. The History of American Graffiti. Harper Design, April 2011. Boone, Jobyl A., Brandon Fortune, and Frank H. Goodyear, III. RECOGNIZE! Hip Hop and Contemporary Portraiture. Washington, DC: National Portrait Gallery, 2008. Gastman, Roger, Darin Rowland, and Ian Sattler. Freight Train Graffiti. Harry N. Abrams, June 2006. Gastman, Roger. Enamelized. R77 Publishing, June 2004.
References
External links Official website