Lee Quinones’ X aNYthing

To showcase the recent works of Lee Quinones ‘Prelude’ exhibition at The Museum of Modern Art’s PS1 this summer, Quinones has colaborated with aNYthing to release a tee shirt showing one of his signature pieces from the show "Back in the seventies when New York City was one sprawling ghetto, Lee used to steal 12” records of the Funk grooves that inspired his subway paintings, and would then sell them to DJs. These songs were then played at jams, informal parties rigged illegally in city parks by the DJ and patron street gang; meeting places for the graffiti artist, performance space for DJ, rapper and break-dancer. Later these same records would go on to be sampled as the basis for classic period Rap hits. Therefore Lee fueled a growing street culture during its most vital stage, placing him at the fulcrum of the movement as it catapulted to great heights. The twelve paintings represent Lee’s juvenile music thievery, in itself a misdemeanor, but seen symbolically a phenomenon of profound import. In each frenzied tableau ghostly hands clutch at the object of desire and stash it within folds of cloth, to conceal his crime- poverty mixed with a love of art." – aNYthing.