The landmark work of writer, illustrator and creator Andre LeRoy Davis will be on display in “50 Shades Of Dre.”
The retrospective covers the New York artist’s work from The Source (in which he drew “The Last Word”), Def Jam Recordings and other outlets. The show opens today (June 26) from 6-9 pm EST at The Art Gallery in The Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. State Office Building at 163 West 125th Street in Harlem, New York. The Art Gallery is on the second floor.
“The Last Word,” which debuted in the final page of The Source in 1990 and ran in the publication for more than 20 years, garnered attention because of the way it both highlighted and made fun of artists.
“In 1990 wasn’t nobody making fun of rappers, especially within the Hip Hop community,” A.L. Dre says during an exclusive interview with HipHopDX. “Maybe you took jabs at them like in SPIN Magazine or you take jabs at them because it’s your way of showing a rapper or somebody with a gold chain…That was their way of saying everybody wore gold chains in Hip Hop. Same way when they would make fun of country singers and everybody had a cowboy hat on and it was ‘Billy Bob.’”
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“The Last Word” Celebrates Its 25th Anniversary
“50 Shades Of Dre” also showcases Davis’ first work, a piece he did in 1988 for Players Magazine. Davis, who also teaches, curates other shows, including his “17: The Revolution Will Be Visualized,” which celebrates Black males 17 and younger. He says that he wanted the freedom with “50 Shades Of Dre” that comes with doing his own show.
“I figured it’s time to not hold my artwork for myself and sell some of the originals, have them hanged for the masses,” he says. “I got a lot of requests from other countries, other states, so I just figured now that I have the time to do it for myself, why not do it? Especially since it’s been 25 years since I did the first one. So, what I want to do is definitely do the preview and move it around. Definitely. That’s definitely the goal.”
Davis will provide a tour of his work tomorrow (June 27) from 3-8 pm PST. The gallery will also be open Monday (June 29) and Tuesday (June 30) from 2-7 pm PST.
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He will offer another tour July 5 from 2:30-7:30 pm and will be part of meet and greets and artist talks July 8 from 6-9 pm and July 12 from 2:30-7:30 pm.
“50 Shades Of Dre” finishes its run July 24 with a 2-7 pm viewing.
Some of Davis’ work is on display below, as is the flyer for the viewings.
