Sneaker pimps remember him from a couple years ago as one of many artists to design a special pair of Adidas shelltoes for their 35th anniversary. Contemporary art snobs know him as the Puerto Rican dude who used to run with Basquiat and others who helped blow up the idea of using New York City as a canvas in the ’70s. Either way, Lee Quiñones has an exhibit of 12 pieces at P.S. 1, a Museum of Modern Art affiliate in Manhattan, inspired by old album covers like James Brown’s “Sex Machine” and the soundtrack to “Shaft In Africa.” To really underscore urban Latino-ness, the aesthetic context is that these records are being stolen. We recommend going if you’re a nostalgia whore and wanna see what street art looked like before pre-fab stencils and tiles became chic media. (You old fart.)

Lee Quiñones: June 24 - September 24, 2007 [P.S. 1 MoMA via Vulture]
Image [Lee Quiñones / P.S. 1 MoMA]