GEORGE ADAMS GALLERY
Luis Cruz Azaceta (b. 1942) was born in Havana, Cuba. He spent his childhood amid the violence of the Cuban revolution before emigrating to New York when he was 18 in 1959. He worked odd jobs and took classes, graduating with a BFA from the School of Visual Arts in 1969. Azaceta’s early paintings and drawings addressed the moral and ethical pulse of the period through cartoon-like caricatures. His work focused on urban violence, the AIDS epidemic, and racism. His intention was to inspire empathy: “The vehicle for compassion is the aesthetic that draws one into looking closely at what are, perhaps, sometimes horrific subjects and embracing them.” He used humor as a mask for the atrocities he was witnessing in New York.
He went on to debut in New Talent at Allan Frumkin Gallery in 1975 with his “Subway Series.” The works were based on the New York City subway, its passengers, drama and graffiti. Azaceta depicted mankind as animal-like creatures with no trace of positive human qualities – made bestial only by an unsympathetic environment. The bright colors almost distract the viewer enough to overlook the dismembered limbs in a hotdog box in Ji Ji Ji Express (1974-75) or a crocodile devouring a human figure in Coney Island Local (1975). The works in the series are a tragi-comic outcry at man's condition.
Azaceta’s work from the period was violent and rough – a culmination of his experiences living in Cuba and New York City in the 70s. He painted these atrocities in a cartoonish manner, like that of Goya or Daumier. These themes that would follow throughout the first part of his career. In 1979 he had his New York solo debut with Allan Frumkin. This work dealt with life in the big city, violent and blood-drenched. The New York Post titled their article ‘Canvas filled with terror.’ The “apocalyptic pop” style was uniquely his own. This exhibition takes pieces from both shows to synthesize Azaceta’s experiences in a 70’s New York City.
The gallery has continued to represent Azaceta, who currently lives and works in New Orleans.
Luis Cruz Azaceta has exhibited internationally and was the subject of a career retrospective organized by the American Museum of the Cuban Diaspora, Miami in 2016. He has been the recipient of several major grants and awards including a Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Grant in 1985, a Mid-Atlantic Grant for special projects in 1989, and a Joan Mitchell Foundation Grant in 2009. His work is included in major public collections such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Blanton Museum of Art, Austin; El Museo del Barrio, New York; the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington DC; the Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento; and the Museo de Arte Contemporaneo, Monterrey, Mexico, among others.
The George Adams Gallery traces its origins to the Allan Frumkin Gallery, which was founded in Chicago in 1952 with a New York location opening in 1959. George Adams’ association with the New York gallery began in 1980, leading to Mr. Adams and Mr. Frumkin forming the partnership, Frumkin/Adams Gallery, in 1988. Upon Mr. Frumkin’s retirement in 1995, the gallery assumed its present identity of the George Adams Gallery.
From its inception, the gallery has introduced and promoted a diverse range of artists, most notably from the San Francisco Bay Area and Latin America. The gallery’s program continues to champion art from both regions through outreach and exhibitions of work by artists from its roster and beyond.
Ji Ji Ji Express, 1974-75
Luis Cruz Azaceta
oil on canvas
70 x 45 inches
Coney Island Local , 1975
Luis Cruz Azaceta
colored pencil, ink and collage on paper
24 x 38 inches
Street Scene , 1976
Luis Cruz Azaceta
colored pencil and ink on paper
19 x 24 inches
Subway Reality or Fantasy , 1977
Luis Cruz Azaceta
colored pencil on paper
18 x 24 inches
Subway Door, 1978
Luis Cruz Azaceta
colored pencil on paper
24 x 18 inches
No Parking Any Time, 1978
Luis Cruz Azaceta
colored pencil on paper
24 x 18 inches
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Contact
George Adams Gallery
38 Walker St, New York, NY 10013
(212) 564-8480
May 2–5, 2024
4 Great Jones St., 3rd + 4th Fl, New York, 10012
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