Wednesday, March 21, 5:30-7:30PM
Gallery Talk: 6PM
In this current body of work on paper: clothing patterns, ink, pencil, paint, crayon, printed shelf liner and other faux surfaces are used to create minimal geometric constructions of structures, landscapes and angular human forms to explore ideas related to man and the surroundings that can define him.
Architectural processes and their different presentation strategies are important in the work; floor plans, elevation sections, visual renderings and the constructed object act as various developmental states and approaches and serve as a comparative investigation into the physical construction of the figure. Learning functions as both subject and object in this work, which derive from impressionable experiences associated with iconography from American culture, educational television programming, and the institutional critique in contemporary art. Shedding light on persuasive, performative and often duplicitous identities, as well as on architectural objects and iconography, the work investigates the relationship between man and monument as they coexist in the landscape as representations of one another.
Derrick Adams is a multidisciplinary New York-based artist. His practice is rooted in deconstructivist philosophies and the formation and perception of ideals attached to objects, colors, textures, symbols and ideologies. His work focuses on the fragmentation and manipulation of structure and surface while exploring the shape-shifting force of popular culture in our lives. He received his MFA from Columbia University, a BFA from Pratt Institute, and is both a Skowhegan and a Marie Walsh Sharpe alumnus. His exhibition and performance highlights include: MoMA PS1, PERFORMA 05, Brooklyn Museum, and The Kitchen. He is a recipient of a 2009 Louis Comfort Tiffany Award, and is an honored finalist for the 2011 William H. Johnson Prize. He is currently in the centennial exhibition The Bearden Project at the Studio Museum in Harlem, and has a solo exhibition, Deconstruction Worker, at Jack Tilton Gallery. Upcoming exhibitions include the Boston Center for the Arts (Summer 2012) and a four-night performance in the Brooklyn Musuem of Art’s new Fisher Theater in September 2012.