Rosalyn Drexler's Pop Art Revived in Two New York Shows

A Double Spotlight on Rosalyn Drexler

Rosalyn Drexler's art is having a moment in New York City, with a solo exhibition at Garth Greenan Gallery and a fashion tribute by Rachel Comey. The late artist's paintings, which draw from print media and movie posters, are being reintroduced to contemporary audiences.

The exhibition, titled "My Life Has a Life of Its Own," inaugurates one of Garth Greenan Gallery's two new downtown Manhattan locations on Greene Street. On view through October 24, it presents nearly 50 paintings and drawings made between 1960 and 1969, including works from her second solo show at Kornblee Gallery in 1964. Curated by Fiona Laugharn, the show is divided into three sections—"The Image," "Image & Text," and "Return to Image"—and includes vitrines filled with archival materials.

Drexler's process of editing commercial imagery into paintings anticipated today's remix culture, making her work a case study in artistic possibility.

From Archive to Runway

Seven blocks north, fashion designer Rachel Comey presented her Spring 2027 runway show, featuring a 39-look collection inspired by Drexler. Comey was introduced to Drexler's work by Garth Greenan director Lloyd Wise, who saw parallels between Comey's past collaborations with the New York Review of Books and artist Joan Jonas. The gallery arranged a private viewing of Drexler's paintings and gave Comey access to archival materials.

Comey's nods to Drexler are subtle, drawing from the artist's vibrant color palette and recurring motifs. One look paired a blue dress with a large silver belt, a nod to a wrestling championship belt; feather earrings drew from Our Lady of Doves (1988); and one dress repeats a drawing of two boxers that appears in Going Down and On the Nose (both 1991). Another dress features a blown-up version of the invitation to Drexler's first New York solo show at Reuben Gallery in 1960. Several models carried copies of Drexler's novels, including To Smithereens, I Am the Beautiful Stranger, and The Cosmopolitan Girl.

Market and Legacy

Dealer Garth Greenan, who first started showing Drexler's work in 2015, has been working to bring renewed interest in the artist, whose success ebbed and flowed during her lifetime. Greenan will soon start on a catalog raisonné for Drexler. "This exhibition is less about why Rosalyn is a great painter, which she was, and more about why she's such an interesting case study in art as possibility in New York City," Greenan said. The dual exposure—a gallery exhibition and a fashion collaboration—signals a growing market and institutional interest in Drexler's oeuvre, which spans painting, playwriting, and novels. As Greenan noted, "There's still so much work to be done."