Green Day join the art world

An exhibition of street and graphic art inspired by the latest Green Day album goes on show in the East End today as the American rockers play The 02.

The band worked with artist/curator Logan Hicks to commission 18 artists - including some which featured in Banksy's graffiti art show last year - after Hicks approached them with the idea.

Artists including the British illustrators Will Barris andEelus and the New York-based painter Ron English each produced a work responding to a different song on Green Day's last album, 21st century Breakdown.

Hicks said he wanted to find a way to merge music with art in a more interesting way than simply designing an album cover. "I chose artists who I felt had a similar visual approach to art as Green Day does to its music. Although most of the artists represented are well-established in their careers, they embrace the same emotional rawness with their art, which speaks from the heart and swings with the fist."

For the band, Billie Joe Armstrong said he thought fans would love it. "Seeing the pieces that our new album has inspired is very exciting. We feel a strong connection to that type of creative expression."

The exhibition is the first time the different works have been brought together. It is at the StolenSpace Gallery in Shoreditch until 1 November. Admission is free.