LEE Quiñones
Artist Profile
Details
Aliases: LEE
Started: 1974 Primary affiliations: TS5, SSB, 3YB
Local origin: Manhattan Main lines: 2s, 5s RRs
Started: 1974 Primary affiliations: TS5, SSB, 3YB
Local origin: Manhattan Main lines: 2s, 5s RRs
Bio
LEE Quiñones is by far, one of the most influential figures in New York City's subway art movement. He was born in Ponce, Puerto Rico and raised on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. He began his subway painting career in 1974. Early on, Quiñones concentrated on the artistic aspects of graffiti. He began to focus almost exclusively on creating murals that covered whole subway cars. By 1976 he had teamed up with The Fabulous 5, a crew that shared his passion for painting whole car murals. In late 1976 Quinones and the crew painted an entire 10 car subway train which ran in service. It was an unparalleled achievement.
Quiñones' position at the forefront of the whole car trend made him one of the most admired artists in the community. His artistic ability and refined painting techniques distinguished him from other artists in the movement, as did the concepts for his paintings. His works often possessed a social and political conscience. Others were philosophical observations and celebrations of life. In all, Quiñones painted over 120 whole cars, including The Dance Band, Good Times, Born Again, Heaven is Life - Earth is Hell, Stop the Bomb, and The Hell Express.
In 1978 Quiñones changed the course of wall painting in the graffiti community. He painted an entire handball court Howard the Duck, a feat that had not been previously considered or accomplished. Writers from across the city made pilgrimages to view the unprecedented work and would soon follow suit.
He was also a trailblazer in moving the art form from the subways to the fine art world. His 1979 exhibition at Galleria Medusa in Rome, Italy marked the earliest, if not the first European exhibition of graffiti art.
His work has been featured in many landmark exhibitions, including The Times Square show (1980) and Diego Cortes' New York/New Wave show (1981). He has had solo shows at Barbara Gladstone, MoMA PS1 and the Fun Gallery amoung others.
Recent solo exhibitions include, Language Barriers (2019) at the James Fuentes Gallery in New York and Black and Blue (2021), at the Charlie James Gallery in Los Angeles. His work was also featured in the exhibition Writing the Future: Basquiat and the Hip-Hop Generation at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (2021).
Visit leequinones.com
Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.
Quiñones' position at the forefront of the whole car trend made him one of the most admired artists in the community. His artistic ability and refined painting techniques distinguished him from other artists in the movement, as did the concepts for his paintings. His works often possessed a social and political conscience. Others were philosophical observations and celebrations of life. In all, Quiñones painted over 120 whole cars, including The Dance Band, Good Times, Born Again, Heaven is Life - Earth is Hell, Stop the Bomb, and The Hell Express.
In 1978 Quiñones changed the course of wall painting in the graffiti community. He painted an entire handball court Howard the Duck, a feat that had not been previously considered or accomplished. Writers from across the city made pilgrimages to view the unprecedented work and would soon follow suit.
He was also a trailblazer in moving the art form from the subways to the fine art world. His 1979 exhibition at Galleria Medusa in Rome, Italy marked the earliest, if not the first European exhibition of graffiti art.
His work has been featured in many landmark exhibitions, including The Times Square show (1980) and Diego Cortes' New York/New Wave show (1981). He has had solo shows at Barbara Gladstone, MoMA PS1 and the Fun Gallery amoung others.
Recent solo exhibitions include, Language Barriers (2019) at the James Fuentes Gallery in New York and Black and Blue (2021), at the Charlie James Gallery in Los Angeles. His work was also featured in the exhibition Writing the Future: Basquiat and the Hip-Hop Generation at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (2021).
Visit leequinones.com
Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.
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