Drexel’s Pearlstein Gallery Presents Retrospective of Cey Adams, Graffiti Artist, and Def Jam Recordings Founding Creative Director
By Emily Storz
The Leonard Pearlstein Gallery of Drexel University’s Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design, in collaboration with Mural Arts Philadelphia, will present the career-spanning work of Cey Adams, a New York-based visionary artist working at the forefront of design, culture, innovation, and collaboration. The retrospective exhibition, “Cey Adams, Departure: 40 Years of Art and Design,” will go on display Friday, Aug. 2 through Saturday, Oct. 5.
Featuring more than 60 pieces that encompass his work through photography archives, mixed media collages, paintings, textiles, fashion, street art, contemporary fine art, and more, the exhibition presents a visual timeline of Adams' artistic evolution and a body of work influenced by themes of pop culture, race and gender relations, and cultural and community issues.
The first retrospective exhibition for Adams, this collection celebrates and surveys Adams' extensive practice and transformative role in the cultural landscape of art and music, and its lasting influence in popular culture. The work on display begins in the late 1970s when he began to hone his art skills by tagging graffiti on the streets and painting on trains in New York City. At 19, Adams was represented by Graffiti Above Ground gallery, marking the beginning of his career as an artist.
The exhibition follows Adams to his work as founding Creative Director of Def Jam Recordings where he worked with the biggest artists in Hip-Hop, and co-founded The Drawing Board, the in-house creative studio of the label. He "defined the visual culture of Hip-Hop” by creating the album covers, logos, visual identities and advertising campaigns for musical giants like Run DMC, Beastie Boys, LL Cool J, Mary J. Blige, Public Enemy, The Notorious B.I.G., DMX and Jay-Z. A large wall installation showcases more than 50 album covers created during this time.
“The singular focus of my art is to be a bridge that brings people closer together,” said Adams. “This career retrospective is a reflection of how graffiti, street art, and hip-hop have unified people and, in turn, created a movement with lasting impact on popular culture.”
Unique collaborations with global brands like Levi's, Mattel Creations, Apple, Google, The Recording Academy, YouTube, Adidas, Pabst Blue Ribbon, showcase Adams’ signature use of colorful curves, shapes, and letterforms across multiple mediums. The exhibition will spotlight Adams’ long-term and notable artistic partnership Levi’s® with the display of LOVE— a custom chain-stitch embroidered denim trucker jacket created by Cey Adams x Levi’s® Eureka Innovation Lab while paying homage to his graffiti days of hand painting designs on vintage Levi’s® apparel for his family and friends.
Also featured is Adams' recent collaboration with Mattel Creations. A one-of-a-kind 5-foot 3-D sculpture of a reimagined Hot Wheels logo collaged with the brand's archives from the 1960s and 1970s. To celebrate the retrospective, Mattel Creations released a limited-edition Cey Adams x Hot Wheels custom diecast van, inspired by Adams' iconic 'LOVE' murals.
"We are thrilled to partner with Drexel’s Pearlstein Gallery in showcasing Cey Adams’ dynamic body of work," said Jane Golden, executive director of Mural Arts Philadelphia. "This retrospective not only highlights the evolution of Adams’ artistic journey but also underscores the powerful role of art in unifying communities and sparking cultural conversations."
"We are so honored to have Cey Adams at Pearlstein this Summer,” said Mark Stockton, co-director of the Pearlstein Gallery and teaching professor in the Westphal College. “He is a prolific creator across multiple forms of artmaking. I am continually amazed at his abilities to produce works that can visually encapsulate the history of pop-art, hip-hop, graffiti, and graphic design into a singular style."
“Since its inception, Mural Arts Philadelphia has appreciated the many talents of the local graffiti community,” said Philip Asbury, director of Community Murals for Mural Arts Philadelphia. “Fundamental creative principles like color theory, composition, and line quality, to name a few, are all very present in graffiti. One of my goals is to highlight these transferable skills for local artists and give them concrete examples of how they can apply these skills to a range of income-generating opportunities and new ways to express themselves. Cey Adams's work is an exciting example of applying skills learned in graffiti and applying them to a variety of inspiring creative processes.”
In addition, Mural Arts Philadelphia will offer youth programming around the history of hip-hop and graffiti featuring a range of contributors, including local artists "Dan 1 FBA", JT Taylor of Def Art Airbrushing, and Jane Golden, Mural Arts Philadelphia's Executive Director, among others. Pioneering Graffiti Artists Cornbread, Cone, and Sub will also be featured at the Gallery, focusing on the North Philly origins of the modern graffiti movement. To learn more, visit here.
Operating hours are Tuesday through Friday from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. in the URBN Annex (3401 Filbert St.). The exhibition is free and open to the public. To learn more, visit here.
Cey Adams, Departure: 40 Years of Art and Design is curated by Liza Quiñonez of Street Theory and organized by Boston University Art Galleries. This exhibition is made possible through the generous support of Comcast NBCUniversal, William Penn Foundation Special Gifts Program, and Drexel University Special Initiatives funding, including the Cara Fry Endowment Fund from the Office of University Collections and Exhibitions. Collaborative programming with Mural Arts is supported by Michael Forman and Jennifer Rice. Special Thanks to Donna Frisby Greenwood, Jason Schupbach, Jane Golden, Rosalind Remer, Linda Yang, Lissa Cramer, and Cey Adams.