1. Cey Adams was the founding creative director of Def Jam Recordings and is known for his work with Beastie Boys, Public Enemy, LL Cool J, Jay-Z, and Mary J Blige.
19 Facts About Cey Adams
1. 2.
Cey Adams has been described as "legendary" for his work in hip-hop graphic design.
3.
Cey Adams studied painting at New York's School of Visual Arts and ultimately had work exhibited in the city alongside Jean Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring.
4.
Cey Adams worked with companies such as Revolver Films and Asylum Records, and music artists as diverse as Foo Fighters, Don Henley, and Mary J Blige.
5.
From 1999 to 2000, Cey Adams worked as a creative director for Urban Magic, an internet startup founded by Magic Johnson and Starbucks chairman Howard Schultz.
6.
In 2001, Dave Chappelle hired Cey Adams to create the logo for his new sketch comedy show, "Chappelle's Show" on Comedy Central.
7.
In 2008, Cey Adams co-edited "DEFinition: the Art and Design of Hip-Hop", published by HarperCollins, with the music journalist Bill Adler, who had been Def Jam's original publicist.
8.
Cey Adams was invited to participate in Looking at Music 3.0 at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 2011.
9.
In celebration of Martin Luther King Day in 2013, Cey Adams was commissioned by The Juilliard School to paint a large scale mural titled "Dream," a powerful portrait of Dr King and a visual timeline of the Civil Rights Movement.
10.
Cey Adams worked with Brooklyn Academy of Music on "Picture the Dream," a community-based creative workshop which teaches young people the value of making art while educating them about Dr King's message of equality through non-violence.
11.
Cey Adams took a two-month residency at the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts in Omaha, Nebraska, in 2014, during which time he created a mural with local teenagers, with the message "Love", and in an interview with the Omaha World Herald talks about developing his new series of artworks referencing classic corporate logos.
12.
Cey Adams's work focuses on themes including pop culture, race and gender relations, cultural and community issues.
13.
Cey Adams took part in "Red Eye," an annual weeks-long exhibition of art and entertainment in Fort Lauderdale, in July 2015.
14.
Cey Adams collaborated with local students, helping them create a mural for the National Urban League conference, as well as teaching, and lecturing.
15.
Cey Adams completed a mural for this project in July 2017.
16.
Cey Adams was the Brooklyn Arts Council's 2015 50th Anniversary Gala Honoree.
17.
In collaboration with photographer Janette Beckman, Cey Adams worked on a project called the "Mash Up" where graffiti artists "remixed" Beckman's photographs of hip hop musicians, that was released as a book in 2018.
18.
Cey Adams was commissioned by Pabst Brewing Company in 2019 to reimagine their Pabst Blue Ribbon logo.
19.
Cey Adams's design was placed on 150 million cans that were distributed nationally.