Mavis Pusey: Mobile Images

Mavis Pusey: Mobile Images marks the first major museum survey dedicated to the work and life of Jamaican-born artist Mavis Pusey (1928–2019), featuring over 60 artworks from her prolific 50-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 urban environment of cities in which she lived. Despite her international presence in the art world, Pusey’s 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. Much of her work addresses themes deeply connected to contemporary life, including her “Broken Construction” series (1960s-1990s), which explores the artist’s powerful use of destruction and renewal as metaphors for societal change. These works, along with others, are further contextualized through the inclusion of photographs, personal notes, and archival materials, offering invaluable insights into Pusey’s practice and the historical context surrounding her boundary-pushing work.

Mavis Pusey: Mobile Images is co-organized by the Institute of Contemporary Art at the University of Pennsylvania and the Studio Museum in Harlem. This exhibition 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 presentation of the artist’s archival materials is curated by Teshome. The presentation at the Hammer is curated by Jessi DiTillio, curatorial assistant.

Major support for Mavis Pusey: Mobile Images is provided by Teiger Foundation and the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation. Additional support is provided by the Neil Lane-Jacobson Family Foundation and The Buddy Taub Foundation, Dennis A. Roach and Stephanie Roach, Directors. All exhibitions at the Hammer are made possible by the Hammer Exhibition Fund. Lead support is provided by Alice and Nahum Lainer. Generous support is provided by Carla Emil and Rich Silverstein, Christine Meleo Bernstein and Armyan Bernstein, and Bill Hair.