CEY ADAMS, DEPARTURE: 40 Years of Art and Design is a free public exhibition that features more than 60 pieces that encompass Cey's work through photography archives, mixed media collages, paintings, textiles, fashion, street art, contemporary fine art, and more. Ticket holders get 25% off admission to Mad Arts.
The exhibition celebrates and surveys his extensive practice and transformative role in multiple cultural arts and music movements over the last four decades. The chronological work on display begins in the late 1970s, when he learns to hone his art skills by painting graffiti on the streets and trains of New York City. The exhibition sees street art gradually leak into the city’s high-end galleries as Adams becomes the founding Creative Director for Def Jam Recordings, where he gives visual life to the Hip-Hop movement and creates visual identities, album covers, logos, and advertising campaigns for musical giants like Run-D.M.C., Beastie Boys, LL Cool J, Public Enemy, The Notorious B.I.G., Maroon 5, and Jay-Z. A large installation featuring more than 50 album covers conceived and designed by Adams headlines this part of his career before exploring his studio practice.

This exhibition is organized by the Boston University Art Gallery and curated by Liza Quiñonez, Street Theory.

ABOUT CEY ADAMS

Cey Adams, a New York City native, emerged from the downtown graffiti movement to exhibit alongside fellow artists Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring. He appeared in the historic 1982 PBS documentary Style Wars which tracks subway graffiti in New York. Adams served as Creative Director for Hip-Hop mogul Russell Simmons’ Def Jam Recordings, where he co-founded the Drawing Board, the label’s in-house visual design firm. He exhibits, lectures, and teaches art workshops at institutions including the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, MoMA, Brooklyn Museum, Museum of the City of New York, New York University, Temple University, MOCA Los Angeles, Stanford University, and Howard University, among others. He co-authored DEFinition: The Art and Design of Hip-Hop (Harper-Collins); designed Def Jam Recordings: The First 25 Years of the Last Great Record Label (Rizzoli); and designed the Smithsonian Anthology of Hip-Hop and Rap (Smithsonian/Folkways Recordings), a box set including a 300-page book and nine-CD set.

Mad Arts Hours of Operation: 

Monday: Closed

Tuesday: 12–8 PM

Wednesday: 12–8 PM

Thursday: 12–8 PM

Friday: 12–10 PM

Saturday: 12–10 PM

Sunday: 12–8 PM