Derrick Adams

Derrick Adams is a New-York based contemporary artists known for his video and performance works. His work serve to celebrate and uplift contemporary Black life and culture through everyday scenes of normalcy and resillience. Through his craft, Adams has developed a distinct iconography characterized by themes of joy and leisure. Employing a fusion of representational imagery and planar Cubist geometry, he crafts intricate figures and faces that delve into the depth and richness of the Black experience.

Born in Baltimore in 1970, Adams obtained his BFA from Pratt University in New York in 1996, followed by an MFA from Columbia University in 2003. He has held various teaching positions and currently serves as a tenured assistant professor in the School of Visual, Media, and Performing Arts at CUNY Brooklyn College.

Adams' artistic endeavors have been widely exhibited in cities such as New York, Chicago, Miami, Boston, Aspen, London, and Paris. He has been featured in numerous solo exhibitions at prestigious venues including The Gallery in Baltimore City Hall, the Museum of Arts and Design in New York, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Denver, and the Hudson River Museum. His works are prominently featured in important public collections including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Museum of Arts and Design, and the Studio Museum in Harlem.