DERRICK ADAMS

An artist illustrates Black life.

The prolific artworks of Derrick Adams (b. 1970) include painting, sculpture, collage, multisensory installations, performance, video, and public projects, all reflecting Black life and culture. Illustrated by 150 striking color plates, the comprehensive volume offers essays by curators and art critics and an interview with curator Sandra Jackson-Dumont, all of which offer insights into Adams’ practice, goals, and aesthetics. Ringle focuses on Adams’ use of color and form; Alyssa Alexander identifies the artist’s recurring themes of channeling, signaling, and mirroring; Wimberly examines Adams’ connection to Black experience; and Tillet writes about Adams’ “endless fascination with how Black people see each other.” The conversation between Adams and Jackson-Dumont reveals much about the artist’s background, education, and career. Memories of his childhood in a Black, working-class neighborhood, visits to his extended family, and the ambience of Baltimore shape his work. Committed to supporting and democratizing art, he is a teacher and the founder of the nonprofit Charm City Cultural Cultivation and the Last Resort Artist Retreat. Adams, writes Wimberly, is “a theorist, a philosopher, and a social commentator” who “uses accessible language and shared cultural references to illuminate our societal values, our shared histories, and our private aspirations.” One example is Playthings, photographs of wooden Masai sculptures dressed in clothes from Ken, Barbie, and G.I. Joe dolls. The project, Adams says, reflected his aim of exploring the relationship between Black culture and media. Widely exhibited in both solo and group shows, Adams has placed his work in parks, subways, and public places, such as New York City’s Penn Station, inviting people “to live with art, to play with art, and to laugh with art.”

A vibrant celebration.