Cey Adams Pan Am 2018, Silkscreen and collage on panel. Hand signed.

Pan Am is a striking, unique collage with hand painting and silkscreen on panel board - that would look magnificent in any home or office. It is done by the immensely popular and sought after art star Cey Adams - the former creative director of Def Jam Records, and a younger contemporary of Haring and Basquiat. Adams, a New York City native, emerged from the downtown graffiti movement to exhibit alongside fellow artists Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring. Cey’s work explores the relationship between transformation and discovery. His practice involves dissecting imagery and paper elements to build multiple layers of color, texture, shadow and light. Cey draws inspiration from ‘60s pop art, sign painting, comic books and popular culture. Exchanging ideas through community interaction is critical to his artistic practice, which is shaped by social, political and cultural themes while reflecting their impact upon race relations and community issues.

Cey Adams was Creative Director of Def Jam Recordings, where he founded the Drawing Board, the label’s in-house visual design firm that created visual identities, album covers, logos and advertising campaigns for Run DMC, Beastie Boys, LL Cool J, Public Enemy, Notorious B.I.G., Maroon 5 and Jay-Z, among others. He has exhibited, lectured and given workshops at MoMA, Brooklyn Museum, Museum of the City of New York, New York University, Bemis Center for Contemporary Art, Walker Art Center, MoCA Los Angeles, Pratt Institute, Stanford University, Howard University, Atlanta Contemporary Art Center, High Museum, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Mount Royal University and The University of Winnipeg in Canada. He co-authored DEFinition: The Art and Design of Hip-Hop (Harper Collins) and designed Def Jam Recordings: The First 25 Years of the Last Great Record Label (Rizzoli.) Over the years, Cey’s work has joined multiple private and corporate collections including the collection of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture. Recently, Cey’s work was the subject of an exhibition entitled, “Pop Revolution,” on view at the Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art through June 8th, 2018. "I’ve always had a fascination with Pop Art and brand identity. My recent paintings invite the viewer to re- examine familiar symbols of traditional American values, hopefully sparking dialogue that leads to communication and a better understanding of who we are..."

This unique work "Pan Am" has great nostalgic value for many of us who are old enough to have flown the legendary Pan American Airways, during the golden era of airplane travel. (Fun factoid: Did you know that Queen Noor's father was once the Chairman of Pan American Airways?)

SIGNATURE

Pencil signed on the recto (front)