Lower East Side Drawings 1977-82

These select “Tenement series” graphite drawings from the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, depict the gritty streets of downtown Manhattan, which artist Lee Brozgol knew so well.

The derelict and wild creative freedom of downtown NYC inspired Brozgol deeply, and he was part of the same scene as Keith Haring, Basquiat, Martin Wong, Anton van Dalen, and David Wojnarowicz, figures who pushed boundaries and continue to inspire artistic rebels.

With Brozgol’s brick-by-brick drawings and obsessive attention to street trash and detritus, as well as the architectural designs of balconies, and keystones, we are transported to an uneasy, yet exciting time and place, and see precisely what he saw, both real and fantasy.

Brozgol’s “Tenement series” drawings complement his friend Anton van Dalen’s “Night Street” series, and his meticulous brickwork foreshadows the paintings of Martin Wong, which also feature Lower East Side architecture and brickwork. Upon seeing Brozgol’s visceral drawings, art curator and culture critic Carlo McCormick exclaimed, “Either this guy did every drug there is, or he did none of them!”

Brozgol was a fixture of the neighborhood, working as an activist, community organizer, and social worker alongside his art practice. Brozgol’s visions of his neighborhood and neighbors are compelling, voyeuristic, authentic portraits of both everyday people and vivid imagined cityscapes that still resonate and feel fresh today.

Select images below, photography by Dario Lasagni and the Estate of Lee Brozgol.