Cornbread: Legendary 
a solo exhibition 
January 16 – February 15, 2026 

EXHIBITION PREVIEW EVENT
Friday, January 16th • 6-8pm
RSVP HERE
A ticket is required for entry.

REGULAR EXHIBITION HOURS
January 17 - February 15, 2026
Thursdays • 10 AM – 6 PM
Fridays • 10 AM – 6 PM
Saturdays • 11 AM – 6 PM
Sundays • 11 AM – 5 PM
Mon-Wed by appointment.

MEDIA CONTACT
For all inquiries, contact info@paradigm-gallery.com

LOCATION
12 N. 3rd Street
Philadelphia, PA 19106

SOCIAL MEDIA
Instagram: @ParadigmGS

Paradigm Gallery + Studio is pleased to present LEGENDARY, a solo exhibition of original artwork by graffiti legend and pioneer, Darryl “Cornbread” McCray. After a multi-year global exhibition tour from Amsterdam to Paris to Bogotá, Cornbread returns to his hometown of Philadelphia for his largest solo exhibition to date in the city where it all began. The show pulls from the artist’s recent global successes and includes artwork from his solo exhibition at STRAAT Museum in Amsterdam, a newly published book “Cornbread the Legend” from his recent Paris tour, and a movie set piece he created during his cameo in Audrey's Children, Tribeca Film Festival’s winner of the Tribeca X Award for Best Feature 2024, just to name a few. 

Known internationally by his tag name, Cornbread, McCray is credited with being the world’s first modern graffiti artist, starting with a distinct, non-gang-related tagging style in Philadelphia in 1965. In this exhibition, the artist will be unveiling over 100 works bearing the mark that made him famous on decommissioned street signs, postcards, subway maps, mailing stickers, original canvases, and more that will be on display on the first and second floors of the gallery. This vast collection celebrates Cornbread’s massive impact on street art and graffiti culture around the world, cultivated from his stunts as a young artist to his accomplishments as an advocate for public art initiatives in Philadelphia. 

This exhibition is also in celebration of the accessioning of Cornbread’s work into The Hip Hop Museum’s collection and the induction of his name into the history it celebrates and preserves ahead of the museum’s upcoming grand opening in the Bronx, New York in Fall 2026. 

Cornbread’s work is seen as the foundation for not just Philadelphia’s street art scene but also for the history of Hip Hop itself, with graffiti being the first of the elements of Hip Hop culture. This exhibition calls attention to the cinematic stories surrounding Cornbread’s career, known around the world, elevating him to be a living monument continuing to influence the artists, writers, breakers, and musicians of today.

LEGENDARY will be on view at Paradigm Gallery + Studio (12 N. 3rd Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106) from January 16, 2026 – February 15, 2026. 

An exhibition preview event, which will be the first chance to collect artwork in person, will be held on Friday, January 16, 2026. A ticketed RSVP is required for the preview event. Reserve your spot here. A public First Friday opening reception will be held on Friday, February 6, 2026 from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm as well. 

About Cornbread 
Darryl McCray (American, b.1953), better known by his tagging name "Cornbread", is a graffiti writer from Philadelphia. “Most people make the assumption that New York City birthed graffiti. While the Big Apple certainly made it famous, the credit actually goes to a Philadelphia legend, CORNBREAD, whose unique tag resonated through the City of Brotherly Love beginning in the '60s.” –Alec Banks for Rock The Bells.

After a stint in a juvenile corrections center, where he garnered the name “Cornbread” from the chef who, despite Darryl’s repeated requests, refused to make the stuff, the legend was born. His first big ‘campaign’ was ‘Cornbread Loves Cynthia’. This was a bold declaration of love for a girl in his class at Strawberry Mansion Junior High School. He wrote it everywhere along their walking route home. This later became the inspiration for ESPO’s world-famous mural series of Love Letters along Philadelphia’s famous Market-Frankford train line.

In 2007, documentary filmmaker Sean McKnight made a film called Cry of the City Part 1: The Legend of Cornbread. In August 2013, McCray was honored at the Graffiti Hall of Fame in East Harlem for his contribution to Hip Hop culture. His work is included in the seminal exhibition Beyond The Streets curated by Roger Gastman.

Among his greatest graffiti feats, he is known for tagging a touring jet belonging to the Jackson 5 and sneaking into the Philadelphia Zoo to tag an elephant, an act later ‘borrowed’ by world-famous Street and Conceptual Artist, Banksy. In a 2020 interview, Cornbread has this to say about the zoo action, “I was on the bus one day, reading the newspaper, and it said ‘Cornbread is shot to death,’" he said. "I knew I had to do something amazingly bizarre to let people know I wasn’t dead. So I go to the zoo. It’s a big tourist attraction. I watch the zookeeper shower the elephant with a hose, watch him tug on his flappy ears, and pat his side. The elephant is tame. I saw the zookeeper was not in danger. After three days of watching this, I go to the zoo early in the morning, climb over the fence, into elephant’s enclosure. I take the top off the spray paint, start shaking. The balls start rattling. He turns around, he looks at me, doesn’t pay attention. I paint ‘Cornbread lives’ right on his side."

More than half a century after the legend was born, Cornbread uses his platform and fame to advocate for young, local Philadelphia artists who share his passion for art. He works closely with Philadelphia’s highly influential and successful city program, Mural Arts.

About Paradigm Gallery + Studio
Paradigm Gallery + Studio® was established in 2010 by co-founders and curators Jason Chen and Sara McCorriston. The gallery exhibits meaningful, process-intensive contemporary artwork by emerging and mid-career artists from around the world, with a focus on Philadelphia. In 2023, Paradigm moved locations and opened its new 5-story, 7,000 sq. ft. home, The Paradigm Arts Building, in Old City, Philadelphia. Open to the public, the building boasts multiple floors of exhibition space, integrated in-house design and printmaking, a dedicated events floor, and art advisory offices. With this, Chen and McCorriston expanded their vision for the greater Philadelphia arts community. The gallery is at the heart of this vision, anchoring Paradigm’s overall mission of increasing access to the commercial art world, supporting artists and advancing their careers, and collaborating with like-minded partners to build a more equitable, sustainable arts economy for all.

About The Hip Hop Museum (Opening Fall 2026 in the Bronx, New York)
The Hip Hop Museum is the global rhythmic epicenter for connection, collaboration, community, and creativity on all things Hip Hop culture. As an institution, it’s our duty to always sit at the intersection between an appreciation of Hip Hop’s past and the need to always innovate and contribute something to Hip Hop’s future. Click here to learn more and to support the museum.