The Resurrection of Mavis Pusey
By Edward Waisnis for Whitehot Magazine
August 9, 2025
Given the height of summer-to-early winter time slot given to this comprehensive retrospective one might expect something breezy and lite, or amber and introspective. I am happy to report that neither of these is the case thanks to the quality of the work, coupled with the exemplary work of the curatorial staff led by Hallie Ringle*, that has brought us this resuscitation of Mavis Pusey.†
The precepts of milieu–from her native Jamaica, on to North America and Europe, and culminating in a return to the States–spurred by opportunity, fueled Pusey’s career trajectory physically and spiritually. Her migratory hopscotching is paid homage in the show’s title: Mobile Images.
As a parentless child, subject to the challenges and duress a person of color could be subject to during the height of the fight for civil rights, saddled with innate talent, Pusey is one of a number of artist’s with parallel storied lives who have been the subjects of redressing slights in acknowledgement of unbalanced scales. In light of the current political and cultural shift, one can only posit that this noble impulse my be dampened.