Prepping for "Finding Zero"

I deliver the paintings Sunday to the Athenaeum for my solo "Finding Zero". Still plenty to do in the meantime - finishing the cold wax varnish on the newest paintings, paintings edges and backs, packing, inventory - tweaking the artist statement and assigning titles from the pages of gibberish in my sketchbook - drinking too much coffee - this is going to be a great show....

Latest Newsletter

Upcoming Exhibitions John M. Adams Happy Holidays! Its been a productive fall and summer so why not start 2011 off with two exhibitions of my new work: a third to begin in March. I hope to see you at the "Finding Zero" opening reception on January 9, 2011 from 4-6pm. More details below.... "Finding Zero" at The Athenaeum Solo Exhibition: January 6, 2011 - February 26, 2011 John M. Adams' paintings represent the process of grasping at that which is transient and ephemeral. Adams' adventures canoeing down rivers, traversing mountains, and navigating urban jungles inform their visual language. His perceptions of these experiences remain ambiguously familiar and appear if not in the composition of the work, then in the process. More info here.Opening Reception: 4-6pm, January 9, 2011 201 Prince Street Alexandria, VA 22314 703.548.0035 "Efflux" at Smith Farm Healing Arts Gallery Solo Drawing Installation: January 11 - January 31, 2011 ef·flux /ˈɛflʌks/ [ef-luhks] -noun 1. outward flow, as of water. 2. something that flows out; effluence. 3. a passing or lapse of time. 4. a passing away; expiration; ending. This graphite drawing has been created specifically for the site, and will be destroyed at the close of the exhibition. It will be on display 24 hours a day for three weeks in the window of the gallery while the main gallery space is under construction. A video documenting the creation of the drawing will accompany the installation. More info here. 1632 U St NW Washington, DC 20009 202.483.8600 "Like Nowhere I've Been" at Evolve Two Person Exhibition: March 5, 2011 - April 23, 2011 Evolve Urban Arts Project presents "Like Nowhere I've Been: Landscapes de un Sueno". This two person exhibition features the large scale ethereal graphite drawings of John M. Adams and Mark Parascandola's photographs of abandoned "Spaghetti Western" stage sets in the Spanish desert. Curated by Eric Hope. More info here. 1375 Maryland Avenue NE Washington, DC 20002 202.489.8160 As always, thank you for your interest and support, I look forward to seeing you soon at one of the exhibitions. If you would like to schedule a studio visit, send me an email. Sincerely, John M. Adams www.thefullempty.com Paintings, Drawings and Site-Specific Artwork My studio is open by appointment only, but you can always peek in the window to see whats new...

Ghost Music Preview

Ghost Music preview (Matt Sargent, Bill Solomon, and John M. Adams) from Matt Sargent on Vimeo.

Time and Artwork

The last five months have been interesting. Yes its been a while since I've blogged. I've posted some of my paintings in progress on facebook, but for the most part I've been pretty quiet. I've been putting in the hours in the studio, getting out to get inspired, teaching for two different institutions (one full time and one part-time), preparing for my upcoming shows, participating in Hickok Cole Art Night again in October, and rethinking much of the painting I've been doing over the last couple of years. Actually, I'm not sure if that is the right way to describe it. None the less the paintings are changing after many, many hours of sitting, looking, drinking coffee, thinking, tweaking one or two things and then sitting back down to look for a very long time. The changes are drastic, and they aren't at the same time. I've taken many walks and runs through the woods to clear my head, spent a little time fishing and spent a few days canoe camping solo to try to wrap my mind around it. Still working on that - but the work is coming along nicely as you can see by the "Declaration of Art Making" that J.T. Kirkland left in my sketchbook during a studio visit last Sunday. (I can schedule a few private studio visits before January, just let me know...)
All of this should make for a good solo exhibition at the Athenaeum (Alexandria, VA) which runs January 6, 2011 - February 27, 2011. The title of the show is "Finding Zero". (An opening reception will be held Sunday, January 9, from 4-6pm, everyone is welcome).

The day after that opening reception I am installing a large site-specific drawing titled "Efflux" at the Smith Farm Center For Healing and the Arts on U Street in Washington, DC. It will be up through the end of January 2011 and can be viewed 24 hours a day.

March 5 will bring my two-person show with photographer Mark Parascandola at Evolve Urban Art Projects on Maryland Ave in NE Washington DC. I will be showing my large Graphite drawings for the first time - don't miss that.

More later.

Through Saturday, November 20, 2010

I have a painting in this show. Only two days left to see it!

Images of work in progress at the studio

Here are some images of recent work in progress and some finished drawings. More information about my current work can be found on my website: www.thefullempty.com

Relentless Continuity 2010 by John M. Adams

This video documents the destruction of my most recent site specific drawing, "Relentless Continuity 2010" on May 30, 2010 at the Adam Lister Gallery.

My site specific drawings are created on location, for that specific location. Typically, they only last for the duration of the exhibition, and are destroyed when the exhibition is over. As a result of this situation, the transitory drawings require the viewer to be in a specific place during a specific time period to experience the work first hand.

For more information and additional images visit my website: www.thefullempty.com

Bill Solomon and John M. Adams performing Ghost Music, 03-15-2010

I posted video stills from the Ghost Music recording session at the Arlington Arts Center last week. Peruse my website here.

Site-Specific Drawing at the Adam Lister Gallery

This is one view of the site-specific drawing "Relentless Continuity 3/1/2010-3/11/2010" at the Adam Lister Gallery. The drawing wraps 360 degrees around the column, never allowing the viewer to see the entire drawing at once. Like most of my site-specific drawings it will also be destroyed at the end of the exhibition period (Currently the drawing will be on view for the current exhibition and perhaps extended into the next exhibition). Its about 8'x2'x2' and was executed with graphite. See more site specific drawings here.

Pardon the snapshot, proper high quality documentation coming later.

Drawings, Drawings, Drawings...

Drawing, drawing, drawing, drawing, and lots of it. That's what I've been up to in the studio and around town (Adam Lister Gallery, Ghost Music recording at the AAC). Here are some of the latest things from the last two weeks brewing in my studio. Pardon the poor quality photos, they were shot with my point and shoot camera.

Above is the start of a graphite drawing on a new surface - formica counter top - a new surface I am exploring for temporal site specific drawings, perhaps a whole room of this things is something I'm thinking about...

Here is the finished drawing. It no longer exists, I'm the only one who ever saw the actual piece... in the true spirit of most of my site-specific drawings I destroyed it. I washed it right off.

This is the beginning of another drawing, this one yupo mounted on a table top.

The finished drawing installed with some paintings in progress at my studio. This drawing was not destroyed and is available.

A detail from the above drawing.

More to come soon....

Solo Show Booked for November/December 2010

I just confirmed an unsolicited solo show at the Athenaeum in Alexandria, VA for November/December. Look for some paintings in new formats....

Recording "Ghost Music" at the AAC

Me on the left, Devan on the right.

Bill's set up and Bill in the background shooting a photo of the drawing I made during the performance.

The drawing, I think some of my warm ups were better, but I got a good feel of how it should progress and the timing, it will be much better next time, but this wasn't bad.

Disclaimer: I've got a ton of snapshots of several new drawings (including this shoot and my site-specific drawing at the Adam Lister Gallery) but my camera is at my studio, which has no internet access - so I'll post them this weekend after getting to the studio tomorrow.

In the mean time, here are some photos that Matt shot after the performance.

Monday I recorded the first live performance of "Ghost Music" with Matt Sargent and Bill Solomon (Hartford, CT). Devan Mulvaney (Brooklyn, NY) was our vidoegrapher. After 1.5 years of development and planning, it was the first time we got to be in the same space and work it all out. Matt composed a minimal percussive score, Bill performed it and I made a drawing inspired by the auditory stimulus as the 50+ minute piece developed. Matt, Bill and I have been just working together via email all of this time, I've talked to Matt in person one time before, at the opening for Artomatic 2009, where we had a collaborative piece installed. Bill and I had never met, and I must say it was great to play/draw with him - he's a real pro - and Matt did a great job recording and managing the sound recording. Devan shot the whole thing and is putting together a short video of the piece, can't wait to see it.

Meeting with International Curator Vjera Borozan

Next Friday I am one of seven Washington Project For the Arts artists that will meet with international curator Vjera Borozan, currently a resident of the International Studio and Curatorial Program in Brooklyn, NY, to discuss my work and her projects. Its a great opportunity. Read more about it here.

In Progress: Site-Specific Drawing At Adam Lister Gallery

I'm currently creating a site-specific drawing at the Adam Lister Gallery in Fairfax, VA. I hope to see you at the opening this Friday, March 12 2010 from 6-9pm. Press release for the exhibition "Unforgettable" is below:

ADAM LISTER GALLERYFEBRUARY 16, 2010
Fairfax Village Plaza
3995 Chain Bridge Road
Fairfax, VA 22030

PRESS RELEASE

UNFORGETTABLE

Group Show

Mar.12-Apr.18, 2010

opening reception:

Friday March 12, 6-9pm

The Adam Lister Gallery is pleased to announce the opening of "Unforgettable". This is a group exhibition featuring artwork that addresses ideas and concepts that have to do with time. As a practical matter, clocks and calendars regulate everyday life. Yet at the most primitive level, human awareness of time is simply the ability to distinguish which of any two events is earlier and which is later. We live in a reality that is dependent on measurements. Across all aspects of life, we measure quantities, weights, speeds, temperatures, sounds and times, constantly comparing one thing to another.

The concept of time can be discussed on several different levels: physical, psychological, philosophical, scientific, and biological. Every moment there has ever been and ever will be, every object, every thought and feeling, and every action and reaction all make up our own individual perceptions of time. The way the same subway ride can feel like no time at all one day, and seem to take forever another day, the speed of time is due to our reading of a sequence of events. The artwork in "Unforgettable", deals with natural human obsessions surrounding life, death, age, memory, structure, order, and freedom.

Artists: Diana Adams, John M. Adams, Susan Brown, Deborah Burdin, Sarah Burton, Donna Glubo Schwartz, Landon Jones, Adam Lister, Robbie Namy, Stephanie Rivers, Jamin Sheard, Chris Wise

For more info contact Gallery Director : Adam Lister

T# 646.263.7305

www.adamlistergallery.com

adamlistergallery@gmail.com
Fairfax Village Plaza
3995 Chain Bridge Road
Fairfax, VA 22030

Aw Shucks, Thanks Frank!

Yesterday, Lenny over at DC Art News posted an interview with Post Secret creator and facilitator Frank Warren. Towards the end of the short interview, this question gets asked...

"DC: Who is your favorite DC area artist?

Frank: I have work hanging in my home from my favorite artists. Most of them I met through Artomatic. Mark Jenkins, John Adams, Scott Brooks and Tim Tate."

Looks like I'm in pretty good company don't ya think?

You can read the entire interview here.

Moving the Studio

I've been silent for awhile, but big changes and new things are happening. I moved my studio into the AKA Building in Arlington, VA. After a huge snowstorm (or two or three, I can't remember) and quite a bit of disassembling and reassembling it is operational... it feels good to be painting in there.
Here are some photos from the move - there is more to come....








I've got several projects coming up, more later. You'll be over here before you know it.

Last Chance to See "Exposed"

"Seep"
oil and acrylic on birch
20"x17" - 2009
Currently at Mayer Fine Art

"Exposed" a juried group show at Mayer Fine Art (click the link for more info)
333 Waterside Drive, Suite #252, Norfolk, VA 23510 tel. (757) 803-4749
Opening Reception :Saturday, February 6, 2010 from 7:30-10 PM
Awards announced at 9pm
February 6- February 26, 2010
GALLERY HOURS:
Thursday 4-6pm
Friday 4-6pm
Saturday 12-4pm.
All other times, by appointment.

Exhibition in Norfolk, VA Opening This Weekend (2-6-10)

"Seep"
oil and acrylic on birch
20"x17" - 2009
Currently at Mayer Fine Art

"Exposed" a juried group show at Mayer Fine Art (click the link for more info)
333 Waterside Drive, Suite #252, Norfolk, VA 23510 tel. (757) 803-4749
Opening Reception :Saturday, February 6, 2010 from 7:30-10 PM
Awards announced at 9pm
February 6- February 26, 2010
GALLERY HOURS:
Thursday 4-6pm
Friday 4-6pm
Saturday 12-4pm.
All other times, by appointment.

Artist Residency Opportunity!

My Artist residency experience last summer at Soaring gardens was awesome - this opportunity is a little closer to home and many of my artist buddies may be interested:

Visiting Artist Program at the Torpedo Factory Art Center - Summer 2010

The Torpedo Factory Art Center in Alexandria Virginia has opportunities for one, two, or three-month residencies between June 1 and August 31, 201.

Visiting Artists will be provided with studio workspace, and will be able to display and sell original work to the public.

Download the prospectus and application form from www.torpedofactory.org/vap.

There is no application fee. The deadline for application is February 28, 2010.

Juror: Jack Rasmussen, Director and Curator of the American University Museum at the Katzen Art Center.

Send questions to: vap@torpedofactory.org . No telephone calls please.