Hélio Oiticica in 'Purple Haze: Art and Drugs Across the Americas' at The Dorsky Museum, New Paltz, NY, USA

28 August 2023

'Purple Haze: Art and Drugs Across the Americas' explores the representation of drugs in the media and public imagination. Organized by guest curator and scholar Estrellita B. Brodsky, the exhibition brings together works by more than 20 international artists from the 1960s to the present, as well a selection of pre-Hispanic objects associated with the use of drugs.

Borrowing its title from Jimi Hendrix’s iconic song and the legendary strain of marijuana, 'Purple Haze' examines the Americas’ conflicted relationship with drugs as well as their impact on social, political, and economic relations throughout the two continents.

As part of a global series of special presentations celebrating the 50th anniversary of Hélio Oiticica's Cosmococas series of installations, The Drosky features Cosmococa—Program in Progress, CC1 Trashiscapes (1973) in 'Purple Haze'. Oiticica and Neville d’Almeida's multi-sensory installation conveys the euphoric qualities of drug consumption during a period when drugs and counterculture were grouped together with politics and social and civil activism.

This Coscmococas presentation follows an exhibition of two works from the series at Lisson Gallery in New York (29 June – 11 August 2023).

The exhibition runs from 9 September – 10 December 2023.

Find further information via The Dorsky Museum.