Derrick Adams

Thanks to all who were able to attend the preview for “View Master,” Derrick Adams’s first mid-career survey, is now on view at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston (@icaboston )! The exhibition offers a sweeping view of his multidisciplinary practice over the past twenty years. Adams (@derrickadamsny ) celebrates contemporary Black life and culture through a distinctive representational language. His paintings, sculptures, and collages, as well as his performance, video, and public projects, capture the beauty of everyday life, transforming these moments into an iconography that resonates with the richness and complexity of Black culture in our time. Follow the link in our bio to learn more. __________ #DerrickAdams #Gagosian Installation views, “Derrick Adams: View Master,” Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, April 16–September 7, 2026. Photos: Mel Taing, courtesy ICA/Boston; (2) Derrick Adams, “Only Happy Thoughts,” 2024 (detail); (4) Derrick Adams, “EASY STREET,” 2025 (detail). Photo: John Berens; (6) Derrick Adams, “I’ll Be Right Here,” 2026 (detail); Artwork © Derrick Adams Studio

SAVE THE DATE: Derrick Adams: View Master Apr 16 – Sep 7, 2026 @icaboston Co-Curators: Dexter Wimberly @dexterwimberly Tessa Bachi Haas @tteesssssss Bridgitt and Bruce Evans and Karen and Brian Conway Galleries This first mid-career survey of the prolific New York–based artist Derrick Adams (b. 1970 in Baltimore) offers a sweeping view of his multidisciplinary practice over twenty years. Adams celebrates contemporary Black life and culture through a distinct representational language. He often combines planar shapes and patterns to create multifaceted figures that center leisure, freedom, and the pursuit of happiness. Adams’s painting, sculpture, collage, performance, video, and public projects celebrate the beauty of everyday life, transforming these moments into an iconography that resonates with the richness and complexity of Black culture in our time.

I’m proud to announce that my book is now available for pre-order on Phaidon.com and will be on sale globally in October.  It was an honor and pleasure to work with Phaidon in sharing this collection of work, spanning two decades of my practice, accompanied by writing from an amazing group of contributors. Thank you to @hallierr , @salamishah , @dexterwimberly , @sandrajacksondumon and @aa_lee_sah  for their contributions Special thanks to @gagosian and @michaelchuapoco 🫶🏾

NEW YORK IN FULL EXPRESSION ⁠ @derrickadamsny and @mickalenethomas kicked off New York Art Week at @faenanewyork gathering artists, visionaries, and downtown’s creative pulse inside The Living Room.⁠ ⁠ As the dance floor came alive late into the night, @rocky.lanes dazzled the stage with a performance that turned the evening into something unforgettable.⁠

📸 Opening night snaps! Yesterday, we celebrated the opening of the 2026 B.F.A. Capstone Exhibition, the crowning achievement for our incredible graduating artists. This showcase was the hard-earned result of a rigorous, year-long thesis journey led by @derrickadamsny  and @tacaka . @artgalleryatbc came alive with a uniquely thoughtful and earnest display of paintings, printmaking, collage, sculpture, and mixed media, celebrating of the dedication, vision, and growth this cohort has shown throughout their final year. Miss the show? The 2026 B.F.A. Capstone Exhibition thesis exhibition will be on display at @artgalleryatbc  until May 26. 🖼️ On view: May 12–26 📍 @artgalleryatbc  (Lower level, Boylan Hall) Artists ‣ Nazanin Ashorzadeh | nazaninashorzadeh.com ‣ Raffell Bailey ‣ Tomas Benincasa Reade | @tomasbrart ‣ David Cespedes | @davidxrt_ ‣ Melissa Cosentino | @melons_artworld ‣ Mars Harris | @mothcain ‣ Shira “Adora” Kenny ‣ Kisha Landais | @Klandais_Art ‣ Ashley Lord ‣ Brithanie Lugo | @bibbl_scribblz ‣ Samantha Martinez | @brokeartista ‣ Hideka Minami | @hidekaart ‣ Kevin Molina ‣ Xinia Okoren | @ain.ix.art ‣ Maliq Ruffin ‣ Melissa Sanchez Cabanas | @melii.szc ‣ Elizabeth Sanni | @eliseyi.art ‣ Adelaide Snow ‣ Tia Turner | @ghost.petal_art ‣ Khan Vongjalorn | @khancrete._ ‣ Anthony Zhang ‣ Li Zhi Zheng | @dessert.kyo

@artnet by Richard Whiddington May 3, 2026 American artist Derrick Adams has paid tribute to the late curator Koyo Kouoh, who oversaw this year’s Venice Biennale, by installing a monumental portrait of her in the Italian city. Curator: @thebonamist The painting has been placed on the façade of a building facing the Rio della Tana, around the corner from the Arsenale, one of the Biennale’s two main venues. The installation was spearheaded by Francesco Bonami, the Italian curator and writer who came to know Kouoh after inviting her to serve on the jury of the 50th Venice Biennale, “Dreams and Conflict,” which Bonami curated. @gagosian

A large-scale portrait of Venice Biennale curator Koyo Kouoh, who died unexpectedly in May last year at the age of 57, has today been unveiled in the Italian city, ahead of the exhibition’s public opening later this week.⁠ ⁠ The collage, created by American visual and performance artist Derrick Adams (@derrickadamsny ) and titled 'Heavy is the head that wears the crown' (2026), will be on display close to the Arsenale until 24 September. The work has been created as a tribute to Kouoh, who was the first African woman to curate the biennale. ⁠ ⁠ Adams told Ocula: “Most people will never understand what actually went into the production of this year’s Venice Biennale. We can only imagine. ⁠ ⁠ “The title of this piece not only acknowledges Koyo’s achievement but also suggests that the presence of Black women in positions of power and leadership adds a level of pressure.”⁠ ⁠ Read this new story in full on Ocula, link in bio.

”A lot of my work is about what I want to see when I come into my studio,” says the artist, who’s in the process of preparing for his first midcareer museum survey. “I like to look at things in my studio that are empowering, reflective, and also revealing. And not always linear.” @icaboston @wwd

The kaleidoscopic sparkle of “Derrick Adams: View Master‚” just opened at the Institute of Contemporary Art, works its magic on you almost like a force of gravity. Big, bright, and radiant, it pulls you into its orbit, an irresistible force. But why resist, unless drab and morose is your thing? An Adams piece seduces with generous heaps of his particular sunshine; the invitation to come inside can only be met with a quick and easy “yes.” @bostonglobe @icaboston

@icaboston Derrick Adams “View Master” What better way to channel the history of media than the color bar pattern? Used by technicians to calibrate video monitors and cameras to the correct brightness and contrast, the term color bar (or colour bar) is also a historical term for a socio-political practice that determines who has access to information and the joys of life. “As Black people growing up with TV we experience exaggerated interpretations of Black archetypes and stereotypes; making us both laugh and cry, we spend a lifetime trying to make peace with them.” Adams uses this pattern as a stand in for the larger than life characters in front of the camera and behind the scenes. Dramas and comedies helped shape his understanding of how powerful representation in the media is, and the lasting impression it leaves on us. Some good and some bad. This installation, and View Master as a whole, critically unpacks the multidimensionality of Black life in the most cinematic way.

Thank you 🫶🏾🙏🏾✊🏾#Repost @robingivhan ・・・ Nothing is normal. Nothing is banal. Hold joy close. @nytopinion @derrickadamsny @icaboston “Today, those places and occasions that should exemplify blissful nothingness are expectant with dreadful possibilities or some aching emotion we haven’t yet defined — and not just for men and women of color, but for any marginalized person or anyone unlucky enough to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. A stop for gas, an elementary school drop-off, a Sunday church service, a trip to a public restroom, a swim meet — all have the capacity to become unnerving occasions. Some people fear what might happen to them. Others fret about what they or their children may witness. Banal moments have disappeared in an age of ICE crackdowns, mass shootings, bathroom policing, trolling, doxxing and warring inside once-quiet cul-de-sacs. Everything is pregnant with the possibility of the catastrophic. There are no in-between moments. There are no clear interstitials. No connective tissue.”

@derrickadamsny "View Master" — his first midcareer survey exhibition — is now on display at the @icaboston . “I feel like it’s better to show you than tell you. And I think that my work does that,” he said. This fall, Adams is bringing “View Master” back to New York audiences, when it travels from the ICA Boston to the Queens Museum. In WWD Weekend's April issue, the artist reflects on his body of work and creative inspirations from his studio in Brooklyn. Report: @ktauer Photos: @lexieblacklock