Adam Abdalla grew up going to indie wrestling shows in church basements and gymnasiums around Sunset Park, Brooklyn. By day he built a career as one of New York's most accomplished arts publicists, founding Cultural Counsel PR and sitting on the board of the New Art Dealers Alliance for fifteen years. But the squared circle was never far from his mind. In 2020, he published the first issue of Orange Crush, a hundred-page, perfect-bound journal dedicated to the intersection of visual art and professional wrestling. The gallery world might seem an unlikely neighbour to the ring ropes, but Abdalla had watched artist friends attend wrestling shows and declare them better than any performance art they had ever seen.
Each issue pairs intimate wrestler portraits and behind-the-scenes photography with essays, cultural criticism, and artist profiles. The inaugural volume featured painter Carroll Dunham, photographer Lyndsy Welgos's glamour shots of Joey Janela, and a feature on the luchador Mil Mascaras. Volume two brought Raymond Pettibon's rare wrestling drawings alongside a conversation with Minutemen co-founder Mike Watt. Volume three offered a profile of Matthew Barney's adolescent amateur wrestling career, Mark Yang's nude men's wrestling paintings, and Helen Hunter's joshi depictions. Creative director Susan Globus-Abdalla handles the visual side — the printing and colourful spreads give wrestling a more serious and thoughtful presentation than it typically receives. CNN, Hypebeast, Cool Hunting, and Elephant have all covered the journal.
The project has since expanded far beyond publishing. Orange Crush presented AEW wrestler and painter Lee Moriarty's solo booth at NADA Miami 2024, leading to the Pérez Art Museum Miami acquiring one of his paintings — the first museum acquisition of artwork by an active professional wrestler. A photo book, VISITORS, documenting Game Changer Wrestling's historic night at Tokyo's Korakuen Hall, exhibited at NADA's East Broadway space. In 2027, the Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg will present House Show, the first major U.S. museum exhibition examining wrestling and contemporary art, co-curated by Abdalla. What started as a niche journal has become a cultural bridge between two worlds that share more than either side ever expected.
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