Introducing – Derrick Adams

Best known for his collage-inspired paintings of people engaged in leisure activities, over the past 25 years, Derrick Adams has slowly become one of the most recognisable American artists working today.

His pieces are filled with colour, energy, and complexity, whether they depict intimate, everyday moments or grand, sweeping statements.

What makes Adams stand out is his ability to blend contemporary pop culture with the history of modernist art, creating work that is visually stunning and historically informed. Constructed of geometric blocks of colour, his work sees him placed in a lineage of painters that includes Alex Katz, David Hockney, and Ernie Barnes.

Surprisingly then, our new book Derrick Adams is the first ever to be dedicated to the work of this groundbreaking artist. It includes four texts: three essays, by New York Times columnist Salamishah Tillet; ICA Philadelphia curator Hallie Ringle; and independent curator Dexter Wimberly; as well as an in-depth conversation between Adams and art-world veteran Sandra Jackson-Dumont. Presented in a cloth case with a painting tipped onto the front cover, it’s a must-have for anyone who wants to learn how Derrick Adams’s art has shaped contemporary visual culture.

Adams’s practice traverses many mediums: painting, collage, photography, sculpture, installation, video, and performance. After graduating from Pratt in 1996, he worked as a gallerist at the trailblazing Rush Arts Gallery, one of the first galleries in Chelsea to show exclusively Black artists. The shows he organised, and the community he fostered there, were pivotal in bringing wider visibility to Black artists at a time when they were largely absent from the mainstream discourse. Adams was also cultivating his own art practice, first as a performance artist and photographer, and later developing the collage and painting practices he is best known for. Through a mix of portraits, social scenes, and allegorical pastiche, Adams brings the everyday experiences of Black Americans to the forefront, capturing moments of joy, resilience, and celebration. Take a look at Derrick Adams in the store.