Show, Don't Tell: Artist Derrick Adams Asks You to Be Curious
In the Gagosian gallery on Mayfair's Davies Street, Derrick Adams – kind faced, average height, clad in Alo, Balenciaga, Issey Miyake, Supreme and a scarf his friend brought back from Ethiopia – is telling me his idea of a successful artist: just keep people interested.
That desire to engage is vividly realised in the works he's debuting in the London show space. It's a faithful sample of his over-25-year-long oeuvre. That is to say, it's pop, colourful, littered with familiar iconography and layered with “the contradictions and fragmentations of experiences” of being a Black American in the 21st Century.
Situation Comedy is the title of the collection, but don't expect to leave laughing. The endearingly matter-of-fact Gen X Baltimorean might create art that's a good time on the surface, but it's always imbued with real gravitas. With fantasy and exaggeration, he juxtaposes familiar and lesser-known objects to provoke curiosity that (hopefully) leads to new understanding.
“It's all very deliberate,” he remarks with a warmth in his tone that's in striking contrast with his deadpan facial expression. “It's really more to create imagery that will entice the viewer to go off and learn more.”
He raises the face jugs as an example.
“Beyond the creative and collective community, most average citizens – Black, White or Brown – don't know what they are. They appear to be like tiki cups, something people are more familiar with as they're commonly found in commercial spaces.”
Despite encouraging independent research, he's happy to explain their story when asked. “They are historically from the South region of [North] America, started in the early 1800s by enslaved people as markers for grave sites, and also used for medicinal purposes. Their exaggerated faces are designed to warn off evil spirits. The more exaggerated, the more powerful the object was.”
In pieces such as Sweetening the Pot, Adams employs the vessels – tangible manifestations of internal anxieties – disrupt the scene to send a message. From here, conversation naturally segues onto Kendrick Lamar's recent provocative halftime performance at the Super Bowl LIX.
“Kendrick's performance was exactly what was necessary,” he states. “Especially since people are expecting to have a very superficial experience with the entertainment.
“When challenges come, we rise to the occasion and respond to them in ways that give people more insight into our experience in a way they wouldn't necessarily have access to on a day-to-day basis. Call it a crash course.”
Needless to say, the painter is talking with regard to America's current political climate. He worries about the state of education – “the most important aspect of understanding difference” – but says the adversity fuels his commitment to creating art that fosters important discourse.
“We're used to it,” he declares. “Black people across the world are always dealing with oppositional presence.”
He conjures a grin. It feels incongruous until he continues.
“The large interest towards Black people speaks to our relevance. That's the better takeaway. If you consider someone insignificant, you wouldn't spend as much time trying to dismantle them. It highlights the importance of your existence. If you were truly insignificant, you wouldn't be a topic of discussion.”
With that, Adams takes me for a tour around his paintings.
Sweetening the Pot
“This piece is a combination of things that are associated with American consumerism. The compositional structure of this painting is established to invite the viewer into the space as a guest at the table. The framing suggests an offering of some sort.
“Most people are familiar with the image of Kool-Aid. Its very animated expression is juxtaposed with the face vessels. In a lot of my work, I add things that allude to histories that I feel need to be brought into the future. I think this is better than being literal and explicitly telling people what they are. My focus is not to force people to learn – I want to encourage them to learn on their own.”
Pothead 1-3
“Although some of the works that I make have a very fantastical presence, and may seem to come from my imagination, I also look at references that allude to media, movies, TV and things like that. I look at things that are in my immediate surroundings that leave the most immediate impression on me.
“For this trio of paintings, I took a reference from a movie that Halle Berry starred in: B.A.P.S. The subjects on either end are referencing the two characters that were the stars, and their elaborate hairstyles that were part of the framework of the story. The middle painting is inspired by the movie Juice which Tupac starred in playing the character Bishop – a character that also had a very particular hairstyle that at the time was very impressive. I was thinking about how to bring them into these paintings and talk about the history of the face vessels at the same time.
“All these things are things I think about in the studio while making art – things that I don't necessarily think the viewer has access to by looking at it. I think with art it's really good to have things embedded in the fabric of the work without being literal or feeling the need to explain or access the work. I think there are many levels of my work that are accessible – colour, compositional form, et cetera – which are equally important for the viewer to be interested in.”
Good Egg, Bad Bunny
“This work is a compilation of a lot of reflective moments. It's about celebration and the consumer aspect of it. It's about spectacle. It has a lot of contradictions. There are bite marks on the chocolate bunny – it's being devoured. It's thinking about the bunny as an offering. You can rummage through this and get whatever you want out of it, based on your relationship with the visuals. It allows the viewer to negotiate certain aspects of the painting. I make work by entering through different aspects while making it. This out of all the paintings in the show is the most dense.”
Only Happy Thoughts
“There's a thought bubble coming from the subject that presents a sweet chocolate treat. The main character of the piece, who is much smaller than the thought bubble head, is the woman who is asleep. This is the reflective part of her subconscious and it's occupying the whole space. It's a very meditative piece.
“In terms of the setting, you have to establish how people engage with the subject matter and it's usually got a lot to do with their familiarity with already formed spaces – places they can identify with. I use familiar visual cues to draw people in and they are then disarmed by what is happening.”
Getting the Bag
“I know Telfar [Clemons], and the reason why I used his bag here is because it's symbolic of youth culture. Anybody who has this bag, older or younger, is somehow a component of desire that relates to youth culture. It's a conversation that's attached to a Rauschenberg artwork [Canyon] that has the American eagle which is holding a pillow with a string on it. That itself is based on a Rembrandt painting [The Abduction of Ganymede] of a similar subject of an eagle holding a small child. My interpretation of that is the desire to capture youth and aspects of youth culture. A Telfar bag is not about its quality or the way it's made, really. It's about being attached to something that shows you're aware of what's going on right now.”
“The figure is The Lone Ranger – a cult figure in black and white television. The character derives from a historically documented Black cowboy – he was a bounty hunter who wore many different disguises, not just the mask, and he was known for dressing up to apprehend outlaws. Again, I don't think you need to know the history to engage with the work. A lot of the time, that's for me. I think, if I'm going to spend my time making things, I would love to know that things have some significance to me.”
Quotes have been edited for length and clarity.
Situation Comedy is free to visit at the Gagosian Davies Street in London until 29 March 2025.
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