Mavis Pusey: Mobile Images
04.09-09.05.2027
Mavis Pusey, Personante, n.d. Oil on canvas, 53 1/2 × 75 in. Private collection.
Mavis Pusey: Mobile Images, coorganized by the Studio Museum in Harlem and the Institute of Contemporary Art at the University of Pennsylvania (ICA Philadelphia), marks the first major survey dedicated to the work and life of Jamaican-born artist Mavis Pusey (1928–2019), and features an array of artworks from Pusey's prolific fifty-year career.
An important figure in geometric abstraction, Pusey created rich abstract paintings and works on paper that reflect her wide-ranging engagement with fashion, printmaking, and the cities in which she lived. While Pusey maintained an international presence in the art world, her work has largely remained overlooked. This comprehensive retrospective is the culmination of over a decade of research and collaboration and offers an expansive reexamination of Pusey’s impact on abstraction and beyond.
The exhibition is accompanied by a comprehensive publication documenting Pusey’s creative practice. Designed by Miko McGinty Inc., the catalogue includes forewords by directors Thelma Golden and Johanna Burton; an introduction by curator Hallie Ringle; essays by Valerie Cassel Oliver and Cecilia González Godino; a roundtable with Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah, sonia louise davis, Tomashi Jackson, Kiel Adrian Scott, Kiki Teshome; and an archive essay by Teshome. The publication is copublished by the Institute of Contemporary Art, University of Pennsylvania, and the Studio Museum in Harlem.
Mavis Pusey: Mobile Images is curated by Hallie Ringle, Daniel and Brett Sundheim Chief Curator of the ICA Philadelphia, with Kiki Teshome, Curatorial Assistant, Studio Museum in Harlem. The exhibition is coorganized by the Institute of Contemporary Art at the University of Pennsylvania and the Studio Museum in Harlem. The presentation at the Studio Museum is organized by Teshome.
Major support for Mobile Images has been provided by the Mellon Foundation. Lead support for the Studio Museum presentation and publication, Mavis Pusey: Mobile Images, is made possible by MetLife Foundation.
Support for Mavis Pusey: Mobile Images and the exhibition-related symposium at the Institute of Contemporary Art at the University of Pennsylvania has been provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art. Support for curatorial research has been provided by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. This exhibition was made possible by the Neil Lane-Jacobson Family Foundation, Jemilah Afshar & Sascha S. Bauer, and Dana McDonald Strong & Mark Strong.
Additional support has been provided by Nancy & Leonard Amoroso, Danielle M. Anderman, Marjorie & Michael Levine, Meredith & Bryan Verona, Caroline & Daniel Werther, and The Study at University City. Publication support is provided by the Wyeth Foundation for American Art.
Mavis Pusey: Mobile Images
04.09-09.05.2027
Mavis Pusey, Personante, n.d. Oil on canvas, 53 1/2 × 75 in. Private collection.
Mavis Pusey: Mobile Images, coorganized by the Studio Museum in Harlem and the Institute of Contemporary Art at the University of Pennsylvania (ICA Philadelphia), marks the first major survey dedicated to the work and life of Jamaican-born artist Mavis Pusey (1928–2019), and features an array of artworks from Pusey's prolific fifty-year career.
An important figure in geometric abstraction, Pusey created rich abstract paintings and works on paper that reflect her wide-ranging engagement with fashion, printmaking, and the cities in which she lived. While Pusey maintained an international presence in the art world, her work has largely remained overlooked. This comprehensive retrospective is the culmination of over a decade of research and collaboration and offers an expansive reexamination of Pusey’s impact on abstraction and beyond.
The exhibition is accompanied by a comprehensive publication documenting Pusey’s creative practice. Designed by Miko McGinty Inc., the catalogue includes forewords by directors Thelma Golden and Johanna Burton; an introduction by curator Hallie Ringle; essays by Valerie Cassel Oliver and Cecilia González Godino; a roundtable with Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah, sonia louise davis, Tomashi Jackson, Kiel Adrian Scott, Kiki Teshome; and an archive essay by Teshome. The publication is copublished by the Institute of Contemporary Art, University of Pennsylvania, and the Studio Museum in Harlem.
Mavis Pusey: Mobile Images is curated by Hallie Ringle, Daniel and Brett Sundheim Chief Curator of the ICA Philadelphia, with Kiki Teshome, Curatorial Assistant, Studio Museum in Harlem. The exhibition is coorganized by the Institute of Contemporary Art at the University of Pennsylvania and the Studio Museum in Harlem. The presentation at the Studio Museum is organized by Teshome.
Major support for Mobile Images has been provided by the Mellon Foundation. Lead support for the Studio Museum presentation and publication, Mavis Pusey: Mobile Images, is made possible by MetLife Foundation.
Support for Mavis Pusey: Mobile Images and the exhibition-related symposium at the Institute of Contemporary Art at the University of Pennsylvania has been provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art. Support for curatorial research has been provided by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. This exhibition was made possible by the Neil Lane-Jacobson Family Foundation, Jemilah Afshar & Sascha S. Bauer, and Dana McDonald Strong & Mark Strong.
Additional support has been provided by Nancy & Leonard Amoroso, Danielle M. Anderman, Marjorie & Michael Levine, Meredith & Bryan Verona, Caroline & Daniel Werther, and The Study at University City. Publication support is provided by the Wyeth Foundation for American Art.