Hammer Museum Surveys Mavis Pusey, Rediscovered Jamaican Abstractionist
The Hammer Museum in Los Angeles will host "Mobile Images," the first extensive museum exhibition dedicated to Jamaican artist Mavis Pusey (1928-2019), from 11 October to 28 February 2027. This showcase includes more than 60 pieces, such as oil paintings, etchings, and archival documents that piece together her life story. Notably, Pusey's Untitled (Abstract Composition) (1964) makes a return to UCLA, having been featured in The Negro in American Art in 1966. The quest to highlight Pusey's contributions began in 2018, initiated by Thelma Golden, who encouraged curator Hallie Ringle to explore her artistic legacy. After relocating to New York in 1958, Pusey also spent time in London and Paris, producing influential works shaped by her experiences.
Key facts
- Mavis Pusey: Mobile Images is the first major museum survey of the Jamaican artist Mavis Pusey (1928-2019).
- The exhibition runs at the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles from 11 October to 28 February 2027.
- It brings together more than 60 oil paintings, etchings, silkscreens, and graphite and marker drawings.
- Pusey's Untitled (Abstract Composition) (1964) was shown at UCLA in 1966 in The Negro in American Art.
- Thelma Golden, director of the Studio Museum in Harlem, encountered Pusey's work in an online auction catalogue and encouraged curator Hallie Ringle to investigate.
- Ringle found Pusey in rural Virginia in 2018, a year before her death, with help from a website maintained by dealer Mark Brock.
- The survey, curated by Ringle and Kiki Teshome, opened at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Philadelphia in 2025; Jessi DiTillio rearranged it chronologically for the Hammer.
- Pusey was born in Retreat, Jamaica, in 1928, moved to New York City in 1958, and later lived in London and Paris before returning to New York in 1969.
- Her painting Dejygea (1970) was selected for the Whitney Museum of American Art's 1971 exhibition Contemporary Black Artists in America.
Entities
Artists
- Mavis Pusey
- Thelma Golden
- Hallie Ringle
- Kiki Teshome
- Jessi DiTillio
- Mark Brock
- Birgit Skiöld
Institutions
- Hammer Museum
- University of California, Los Angeles
- Studio Museum in Harlem
- Institute of Contemporary Art in Philadelphia
- Whitney Museum of American Art
Locations
- Los Angeles
- United States
- Jamaica
- Retreat
- New York City
- London
- United Kingdom
- Paris
- France
- Philadelphia
- Virginia