Ad Man: Joseph Grey II

Joseph E. Grey II is an artist, designer, art director, and writer. Now retired, he achieved an award winning career working with such notable clients as RCA, Elizabeth Arden, Noxzema, Esso (Exxon), General Motors, and Cover Girl. Beginning as a freelance illustrator and designer in the 1950s, he became one of the earliest, if not the first, African Americans to work professionally in the advertising business in New York City. Throughout his illustration and ad career he also pursued a body of independent works, first as an abstract artist, then later working representationally to depict various areas of interest including music, religion, family, Native American culture, and his time in Jamaica.

From musician to abstract painter to illustrator and graphic designer, this exhibition explores the course of Grey’s art through his earliest abstract paintings to his latest watercolors. The show also features numerous examples of his work as a professional illustrator and creative director, highlighting his pioneering presence in the New York advertising world.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website.