A vibrant period for art in the city is celebrated in a new exhibition that goes from the rise of celebrity to hyper-capitalism to the devastation of Aids
With Downtown/Uptown: New York in the Eighties, gallery Lévy Gorvy Dayan aims to make the case for the 1980s as a vital – and currently relevant – decade of artistic output. The blockbuster show has brought together a who’s who of 80s art, with major pieces from Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Francesco Clemente, Jeff Koons, Keith Haring, Cindy Sherman, and many others.
The goal for Downtown/Uptown is quite simple: to showcase the decade’s best art for new generations. “I was thinking about what art was pivotal to the moment,” said Brett Gorvy, show 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.”
