A groundbreaking exhibition at Lévy Gorvy Dayan gallery is making a compelling case for the 1980s as one of the most vital and relevant decades in art history. "Downtown/Uptown: New York in the Eighties" brings together a who's who of 80s art luminaries, featuring major works by Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Francesco Clemente, Jeff Koons, Keith Haring, Cindy Sherman, and numerous other influential artists of the era.
The exhibition's mission is straightforward yet ambitious: to showcase the decade's finest artistic achievements for contemporary audiences. "I was thinking about what art was pivotal to the moment," explained Brett Gorvy, the show's co-curator. "And also what over time has become pivotal. We've been lucky to be able to access the greatest paintings of so many of these artists." The blockbuster show aims to introduce these groundbreaking artists to new generations while highlighting their enduring relevance.
According to Gorvy, the 1980s art scene was characterized by several defining elements that shaped the cultural landscape. The decade saw celebrity culture take center stage in the art world, while simultaneously being marked by the devastating AIDS epidemic and the rise of hyper-capitalistic thinking. Gordon Gekko's infamous mantra "greed is good" echoed throughout society, particularly in art circles, where artists' rapid transitions from poverty to wealth were often accompanied by frenzy and extravagance.
The paradox of 80s art culture is particularly striking when examining the artists' origins versus their eventual success. "Artists are literally taking things out of dumpsters and creating art, so it seemed like the opposite of Wall Street," Gorvy observed. "But what happens to many of these artists is that money came very quickly. Ultimately there were drugs and excess." This dichotomy between humble beginnings and sudden wealth became a defining characteristic of the era's art scene.
The exhibition benefits from the expertise of legendary art dealer Mary Boone, who serves as co-curator and was herself a major figure in the 80s art world. Her intimate knowledge of the artists provides unparalleled insight into their creative processes and personal lives. One piece by Basquiat particularly demonstrates Boone's close relationship with the artists: a punching bag onto which he wrote her name in block letters below his iconic crown. "It's been amazing working with Mary Boone, who was the queen of Soho," Gorvy said. "She has been this incredible collaborator – ultimately her connections with the artists allowed me to piggyback onto that and have a show that is both historical and that feels very relevant."
"Downtown/Uptown" opens with a showcase of Warhol's silkscreen portraits, including depictions of show luminaries Clemente, Robert Mapplethorpe, and Basquiat, as well as a particularly fitting portrait of dollar signs. Warhol's central role in the 80s art scene cannot be overstated. "Warhol is a very important figure in the show, because he's the lynchpin for all this activity," Gorvy explained. "He was a mentor, and his Factory was a place where you could congregate as an artist. There's the notion that these are young kids basically being presented by Warhol as the superstars. He essentially created the celebrity aspect."
Beyond the pervasive influence of money and celebrity culture, the AIDS epidemic cast a dark shadow over the 80s art world, an aspect powerfully represented in the exhibition. Ross Bleckner's haunting work "27764" serves as a somber reminder of the crisis, representing a tally of those lost to the disease at the time of its creation in 1987. Executed in muddy off-white and consisting of countless strokes, the piece is deeply affecting and served as a precursor to Bleckner's more extensive explorations of HIV throughout the 1990s. "It looks almost like legions of wounds on the canvas," Gorvy noted. "And then, right in the middle, is this number, in this like gothic script."
The exhibition also addresses the pervasive sexism that plagued the 1980s art world through the work of the anonymous art collective Guerrilla Girls. Their inventive and sarcastic approach to highlighting gender inequality turned heads and sparked important conversations. "Downtown/Uptown" pays due respect to the collective by displaying some of their most pointed posters, including one noting how the Guggenheim, Met, MoMA, and Whitney collectively featured just a single female artist in solo exhibitions during 1984. Another poster wryly lists the "advantages" of being a woman artist, such as not being stuck in a tenured teaching position and having the opportunity to choose between career and motherhood.
Gorvy acknowledges that "Downtown/Uptown" reflects the gender imbalance that characterized the 80s art world, with only seven female artists represented in the show. "What's striking about this show is the very strong male voice," Gorvy admitted. "That notion of female artists finding their own sort of room to grow was not something that existed in the painting world of the 80s. The galleries of the time were not necessarily choosing female artists to promote. I think we have seven female artists in the show, which proportionately is probably pretty accurate."
One of the most significant legacies of 1980s art that continues to influence today's art world is the renewed focus on figuration. This artistic approach emerged as a reaction against the harsh, cold minimalism that dominated the 1970s. "The primacy of figuration today is something where the birth of that was in the 80s," Gorvy explained. "It was very much a reaction against minimalism and the cold mentality of artists not having a hand." This return to more expressive, human-centered art marked a pivotal shift in contemporary artistic practice.
The exhibition offers a fascinating opportunity to assess how the major works of the 1980s have stood the test of time and which artists have truly endured. While controversial works like Andres Serrano's "Piss Christ" – which nearly single-handedly launched the culture wars over the arts that lasted well into the 1990s – might seem essential to any 80s retrospective, Gorvy identifies Basquiat as the artist who has most successfully transcended his era. "With an artist like Basquiat, the authenticity of his work is of bringing the history of the street, of graffiti into the gallery," Gorvy said. "It has a vitality that just touches you. There's a reason why Basquiat is one of the top artists today commercially. He's, well beyond anyone else in the show, the most expensive artist who we have in the exhibition, and he has a relevancy both in terms of younger artists and of the collectors."
Throughout the curation process, Gorvy kept his 20-year-old daughter in mind, considering what someone of her generation would want to understand about the 1980s art world. This generational perspective informed his approach to making the exhibition accessible and relevant to contemporary audiences. "I was thinking of why the 80s should speak to this generation," he said. He sees connections in the fashion and music preferences of Gen Z, hoping these parallels will spark curiosity about the visual arts of the era.
The exhibition serves as both a historical survey and a bridge between generations, aiming to pass on the cultural significance of this transformative decade. "We're hopefully introducing these artists to a new audience, showing a full spectrum of artists so that young people can understand it in a very holistic way," Gorvy explained. "In my mind it goes back to the notion of my daughter and asking, 'How do you pass the baton of something that's very special?'" "Downtown/Uptown: New York in the Eighties" remains on display at Lévy Gorvy Dayan in New York through December 13, offering visitors a comprehensive look at one of the most dynamic and influential periods in American art history.
