Wednesday, February 22
6:00-7:30 PM
The FLAG Art Foundation
545 West 25th Street, 9th Floor
NYC
The AFA is pleased to provide an exclusive tour of Derrick Adams: I Can Show You Better Than I Can Tell You at The FLAG Art Foundation, led by Director, Jonathan Rider. The tour will be followed by a wine reception.
In his latest solo exhibition, I Can Show You Better Than I Can Tell You, Derrick Adams (b. 1970) draws inspiration from American history, iconography, and Black media and entertainment to create vibrant and emotive large-scale paintings.
Adams’ pieces are emblematic of collages, with imagery from sit-coms, game shows, and documentaries, as well as gospel and R&B lyrics present in his work. His painting, So Much to Celebrate, 2021, is a nod to Soul!, America’s first Black variety show, shining a light on the importance of early Black entertainment. Another work, If I Wasn’t Saved…, 2022, features a church choir in reference to the widely popular film, Sister Act. Derrick Adams: I Can Show You Better Than I Can Tell You demonstrates the connections between personal identity and the cultural environment that affect Black life, artistry, and community.
For more information and to RSVP, contact events@amfedarts.org.
Derrick Adams (b. 1970, Baltimore, MD) is a multi-disciplinary artist living and working in Brooklyn, NY. Adams earned a BFA from Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY, in 1996, and an MFA from Columbia University, New York, NY, in 2003. Recent solo exhibitions include Sweet Spot, LGDR HK, Hong Kong, (2022); LOOKS, Cleveland Art Museum, Cleveland, OH (2021); Derrick Adams and Barbara Earl Thomas: Packaged Black, Henry Art Gallery, Seattle, WA (2021); Style Variations, Salon 94, New York, NY (2021); Sanctuary, The Momentary, Bentonville, AR (2021); among others. His work has been included in numerous group exhibitions, most recently including The Eyes Have It, Lehman College Art Gallery, Bronx, NY (2021); and I will wear you in my heart of heart, The FLAG Art Foundation, New York, NY (2021); TEXTURES: the history and art of Black hair, Kent State University Museum, Kent, OH (2020); Jacob Lawrence: The American Struggle, Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA (2020); among others. Adams is an alumnus of the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture (2002) and Marie Walsh Sharpe Foundation’s Studio Program (2003). He is a recipient of a Robert Rauschenberg Foundation Residency (2019), a Gordon Parks Foundation Fellowship (2018), a Studio Museum Joyce Alexander Wein Artist Prize (2016), and a Louis Comfort Tiffany Award (2009). Adams’s work resides in the permanent collections of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Studio Museum in Harlem, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, and the Birmingham Museum of Art.
