JonOne, acrylic on canvas, 2009

John “JonOne” Perello was born in 1963 in New York to parents from the Dominican Republic. Growing up in Harlem, his introduction to street art began at an early age, when he would see graffiti and tags on subway cars and city walls. Adopting these modes of expression, JonOne used the energy he felt from the city to find freedom in painting his urban landscape.