March 23 – July 7, 2024

The Nassau County Museum of Art proudly presents: Urban Art Evolution on March 23 through July 7, 2024. Guest curated by art collector and gallerist Christopher Pusey, this comprehensive exhibition features a diverse range of compositions from the 1980s through the present by creators who were based in the rough and tumble downtown area of New York City known as Loisaida/LES (Lower East Side/East Village) and close surrounding neighborhoods. Artists pushed the boundaries of what was considered “art” with a primary focus on street/graffiti art. The exhibition’s scope, however, offers an even broader view from other creative residents, who worked inside their studios but still contributed to the rich fabric of the downtown art scene from different vantage points and aesthetics. Works include sculpture, paintings, photography, music, and ephemera from many of the most noted and influential artists of this pivotal time in art history.

“I believe the important inspiration to focus on for the curation of the Urban Art Evolution will be the Zeitgeist moment that the urban art and music scene is currently enjoying. With the 50th anniversary of the ‘birth of hip-hop’ music and the recent 40th celebration for the release of the seminal film on the graffiti art movement, Wild Style, the time is now to exhibit the works of the pioneering visual artists that were on the cutting edge of urban inspired contemporary art. The timeline for the curation goes back to the early 1980s when I was a young art dealer witnessing the confluence of these genres with film, music, and art all cross-pollinating and influencing each other in immeasurable ways. The NCMA exhibition features more than 35 of these diverse visual artists and their impact on and contributions to the downtown New York art scene – then and now.” – Christopher Pusey

Ricky Powell

Rick Prol

Lee Quiñones

Judy Rifka

Walter Robinson

James Romberger

Kenny Scharf

Tseng Kwong Chi

David Wojnarowicz

Martin Wong