The Art Students League Of New York Presents First Major New York Solo Exhibition Of Mavis Pusey  (1928–2019)

“ I use color and texture to convey the tension that is the heartbeat of the city… I see the new construction as a rebirth, a catalyst for a new environment, and since the past must be a link to the future, in each of my works…. there is a circle to depict the never-ending continuation of natural order and all matter."

Mavis Iona Pusey (1928–2019)

"In Memoriam: Mavis Iona Pusey, 1928–2019” is on display from June 19th until August 16th in the American Fine Arts Society Gallery of the Art Students League (215 West 57th Street).                  

On Wednesday, June 19th, The Art Students League hosted a memorial service for leading abstractionist Mavis Pusey in conjunction with its current exhibition "In Memoriam: Mavis Iona Pusey, 1928–2019” organized by Genevieve Martin.  Special speakers who joined in celebrating the life and art of the artist included Hallie Ringle, Hugh Kaul Curator of Contemporary Art at The Birmingham Museum of Art and Thelma Golden Director and Chief Curator of The Studio Museum in Harlem, the world’s leading institution devoted to visual art by artists of African descent. “Today we are honoring the legacy of this great pioneering, radical, African American, woman artist who created a world that was not created for her. Mavis Pusey made a path in the art world that was not completely open to her. She created for herself opportunities that didn’t exist before and in doing so created opportunities for so many others” said Golden. Ringle has been working on a major traveling exhibition co-presented by The Studio Museum in Harlem and The Birmingham Museum of Art. She is also developing the first-ever monograph of Pusey’s work, which recently garnered her a prestigious Warhol Curatorial Fellowship. 

The current exhibition of thirteen works on paper were generously gifted by the artist in 2004 to The League's Permanent Collection. To date, this is the largest solo presentation of Mavis Pusey at a major arts institution. Pusey's hard-edged, geometric compositions inspired by the streets of NYC and her visualizations of rhythm and movement represent a critical piece in the history of American abstraction. 

A highlight of The League's Mavis Pusey exhibition is a monumental and interactive reproduction of a handwritten wish list found among Ms. Pusey’s papers from the late 1980s. “I want to make enough money to live on, through my art,” one wish read. "I desire the sum of $1,00,000 (one million dollar) from unexpected sources," read another. Guests of the exhibition are encouraged to produce their own wish lists and post them on a community wall.

About the artist: 

Mavis Pusey was born in Retreat, Jamaica and moved to New York City at the age of 18 to pursue a degree in fashion design. She encountered financial challenges in the city and ultimately left her studies taking work sewing couture wedding gowns. Pusey later transferred to The Art Students League after securing a prestigious scholarship from the Ford Foundation. It was at The League that Pusey met painter and printmaker Will Barnet who became a life-long mentor and friend. Barnet encouraged Pusey to continue working in painting and introduced her to the work by modern masters like Wassily Kandinsky whose energy, rhythm, and movement deeply impacted her practice. Pusey has received numerous awards from the Pollock Krasner Foundation and the Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation, worked in the Robert Blackburn Printmaking studios for several years, exhibited at the Rainbow Art Foundation, and was included in numerous major exhibitions including the seminal "Contemporary Black Artists in America" held at the Whitney in 1971. 

About The Art Students League of New York: 

The League was founded in 1875 by students breaking away from the National Academy of Design. That independent spirit remains at The League today, where students pursue their work unconstrained by dogma, politics or burdensome tuition. We educate students in the language and process of making art in an environment where anyone who wishes to pursue arts education can realize his or her full potential. The League fulfills this mission by offering affordable, high-quality education and instruction in painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture and assemblage. Artists who have studied at the League include Georgia O'Keeffe, Norman Rockwell, Jackson Pollock, Robert Rauschenberg, Louise Bourgeois, Alexander Calder, James Rosenquist and Ai-Weiwei, among others. www.theartstudentsleague.org