Derrick Adams

by Ringle, Hallie; Tillet, Salamishah; Wimberly, Dexter; Jackson-Dumont, Sandra

• ISBN13: 9781580937016
• ISBN10: 1580937012
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2025-10-15
• Publisher: The Monacelli Press

Summary

The highly anticipated first monograph on one of the most celebrated American contemporary artists

Through portraits, social scenes, photographs, sculptures, and immersive installations, Derrick Adams has developed an artistic practice that jocundly visualizes modern Black American life. 

Equally informed by popular culture as he is by the history of modern art, Adams’s work brings the everyday experiences of Black Americans to the forefront, capturing fashionable moments of joy, resilience, and celebration. His artworks are filled with color, energy, and complexity, whether they depict intimate, everyday moments or grand, sweeping statements.

Adams’s first-ever monograph includes 150 of the most significant works from his thirty-year career, along with four newly commissioned texts from cultural luminaries. Filled with beautifully reproduced images and presented in a cloth case with a painting tipped onto the front cover, this stunning book establishes Derrick Adams as one of the most important figurative artists working today.

Author Biography

Derrick Adams is an American visual and performance artist and curator. Much of his work is centred around his Black identity, frequently referencing patterns, images, and themes of Black culture in the USA.

Hallie Ringle is Daniel and Brett Sundheim Chief Curator at the ICA Philadelphia.

Salamishah Tillet is Henry Rutgers Professor of Africana Studies and Creative Writing at Rutgers University.

Dexter Wimberly is an independent curator and the founder and director of the Hayama Artist Residency in Japan.

Sandra Jackson-Dumont is former Director and CEO of the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art.