Derrick Adams: We Came to Party and Plan
Conceived during Derrick Adams’ summer 2019 residency at the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, We Came to Party and Plan brings to life the complex exchanges that take place in spaces of celebration. Within the immersive installation, intimate portraits convey a multifaceted agenda.
Referencing the history of African Americans, Adams notes that Black people couldn’t always assemble freely. Worship and other formal occasions such as weddings and holidays were the only times Black people were allowed to congregate. Building from this historical context, he explains, “When we get together, it isn’t just to have a party. We might be planning a revolution at the same time.” Here, Adams surrounds us with unique individuals who may be discussing the events of the previous week, pitching a business idea, or debating politics. Dreams, plans, frustrations—the content is limited only by our imaginations.
Also in this gallery, four party settings from the Tables Turned series express a more straightforward note of festivity. In 2016, these wall sculptures were displayed in Adams’ Culture Club exhibition at Project for Empty Space in Newark, New Jersey, alongside the first Floaters, featured in Buoyant (extended through August 23). The artist created these collages out of utensils and decorations he knew would elicit memories and emotions in viewers. We become the figures at these empty tables; they are literally tipped in our direction, inviting us to join the fun. Adams and his art testify to the necessity of leisure:
We work hard. And when I looked around and saw people at a party, laughing and talking, I said, “We should make art about this. The world needs to see that we’re in this party.”
Read moreAbout Derrick Adams
Derrick Adams is a multidisciplinary artist working for more than twenty years in painting, collage, prints, sculpture, installation art, performance, video, and sound. Recently hailed as “trailblazing” by Departures Magazine, his practice focuses on the fragmentation and manipulation of structure and surface, exploring self image and forward projection. In 2019, Derrick Adams unveiled a permanent public art installation at the Nostrand LIRR station of the Metropolitan Transit Authority, featuring over thirty colorful glass panels depicting Adams’ rendition of the Crown Heights, Brooklyn, community, where he lives and works. In 2018, Adams collaborated with Pyer Moss to challenge social narratives and evoke dialogue through fashion.
A recipient of the 2018 American Family Fellowship from the Gordon Parks Foundation, a 2009 Louis Comfort Tiffany Award, and 2014 S.J. Weiler Award, Adams received his MFA from Columbia University, BFA from Pratt Institute, and is a Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture and Marie Walsh Sharpe alumnus. His art is in the permanent collections of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Studio Museum in Harlem, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, the Hudson River Museum, and the Whitney Museum of Art.
The production of the custom wallpaper for We Came to Party and Plan has been generously donated by twenty2 wallpaper.
The paintings hanging on the wallpaper are courtesy of the artist and Luxembourg & Dayan, New York/London, and Salon 94, New York, as well as lent by Michael Hoeh and other private collectors.
The Teaching Artist-in-Residence for Derrick Adams: We Came to Party and Plan is Tijay Mohammed. Learn more about the Residency Program here.
#DerrickAdams #WeCameToPartyAndPlan
Selected objects
Derrick Adams (American, born 1970). We Came to Party and Plan 1, 2019. Fabric on paper collage, acrylic paint, pencil, and acrylic pom poms on paper, 72 × 36 inches. Courtesy of the artist and Luxembourg & Dayan, New York/London, and Salon 94, New York.
Derrick Adams (American, born 1970). We Came to Party and Plan 2, 2019. Fabric on paper collage, acrylic paint, pencil, and acrylic pom poms on paper, 72 × 36 inches. Courtesy of the artist and Luxembourg & Dayan, New York/London, and Salon 94, New York.
Derrick Adams (American, born 1970). We Came to Party and Plan 3, 2019. Fabric on paper collage, acrylic paint, and pencil on paper, 24 × 18 inches. Courtesy of the artist and Luxembourg & Dayan, New York/London, and Salon 94, New York.
Derrick Adams (American, born 1970). We Came to Party and Plan 4, 2019. Fabric on paper collage, acrylic paint, and pencil on paper, 24 × 18 inches. Courtesy of the artist and Luxembourg & Dayan, New York/London, and Salon 94, New York.
Derrick Adams (American, born 1970). We Came to Party and Plan 23, 2019. Fabric on paper collage, acrylic paint, and pencil on paper, 24 × 18 inches. Courtesy of the artist and Luxembourg & Dayan, New York/London, and Salon 94, New York.
Derrick Adams (American, born 1970). We Came to Party and Plan 24, 2019. Fabric on paper collage, acrylic paint, and pencil on paper, 24 × 18 inches. Courtesy of the artist and Luxembourg & Dayan, New York/London, and Salon 94, New York.
Derrick Adams (American, born 1970). We Came to Party and Plan 25, 2019. Fabric on paper collage, acrylic paint, and pencil on paper, 24 × 18 inches. Courtesy of the artist and Luxembourg & Dayan, New York/London, and Salon 94, New York.
Derrick Adams (American, born 1970). We Came to Party and Plan 26, 2019. Fabric on paper collage, acrylic paint, and pencil on paper, 24 × 18 inches. Courtesy of the artist and Luxembourg & Dayan, New York/London, and Salon 94, New York.
Derrick Adams (American, born 1970). We Came to Party and Plan 27, 2019. Fabric on paper collage, acrylic paint, and pencil on paper, 24 × 18 inches. Courtesy of the artist and Luxembourg & Dayan, New York/London, and Salon 94, New York.
Derrick Adams (American, born 1970). We Came to Party and Plan 28, 2019. Fabric on paper collage, acrylic paint, and pencil on paper, 24 × 18 inches. Courtesy of the artist and Luxembourg & Dayan, New York/London, and Salon 94, New York.
Derrick Adams (American, born 1970). We Came to Party and Plan 29, 2019. Fabric on paper collage, acrylic paint, and pencil on paper, 24 × 18 inches. Courtesy of the artist and Luxembourg & Dayan, New York/London, and Salon 94, New York.
Derrick Adams (American, born 1970). We Came to Party and Plan 30, 2019. Fabric on paper collage, acrylic paint, and pencil on paper, 24 × 18 inches. Courtesy of the artist and Luxembourg & Dayan, New York/London, and Salon 94, New York.
Derrick Adams (American, born 1970). We Came to Party and Plan 31, 2019. Fabric on paper collage, acrylic paint, and pencil on paper, 24 × 18 inches. Courtesy of the artist and Luxembourg & Dayan, New York/London, and Salon 94, New York.
Derrick Adams (American, born 1970). We Came to Party and Plan 32, 2019. Fabric on paper collage, acrylic paint, and pencil on paper, 24 × 18 inches. Courtesy of the artist and Luxembourg & Dayan, New York/London, and Salon 94, New York.
Derrick Adams (American, born 1970). We Came to Party and Plan 33, 2019. Fabric on paper collage, acrylic paint, and pencil on paper, 24 × 18 inches. Courtesy of the artist and Luxembourg & Dayan, New York/London, and Salon 94, New York.
Derrick Adams (American, born 1970). We Came to Party and Plan 34, 2019. Fabric on paper collage, acrylic paint, and pencil on paper, 24 × 18 inches. Courtesy of the artist and Luxembourg & Dayan, New York/London, and Salon 94, New York.
Derrick Adams (American, born 1970). We Came to Party and Plan 35, 2019. Fabric on paper collage, acrylic paint, and pencil on paper, 24 × 18 inches. Courtesy of the artist and Luxembourg & Dayan, New York/London, and Salon 94, New York.
Derrick Adams (American, born 1970). We Came to Party and Plan 36, 2019. Fabric on paper collage, acrylic paint, and pencil on paper, 24 × 18 inches. Courtesy of the artist and Luxembourg & Dayan, New York/London, and Salon 94, New York.
Derrick Adams (American, born 1970). We Came to Party and Plan 37, 2019. Fabric on paper collage, acrylic paint, and pencil on paper, 24 × 18 inches. Courtesy of the artist and Luxembourg & Dayan, New York/London, and Salon 94, New York.
Derrick Adams (American, born 1970). We Came to Party and Plan 38, 2019. Fabric on paper collage, acrylic paint, and pencil on paper, 24 × 18 inches. Courtesy of the artist and Luxembourg & Dayan, New York/London, and Salon 94, New York.
Derrick Adams (American, born 1970). We Came to Party and Plan 39, 2019. Fabric on paper collage, acrylic paint, and pencil on paper, 72 × 36 inches. Courtesy of the artist and Luxembourg & Dayan, New York/London, and Salon 94, New York.
Derrick Adams (American, born 1970). We Came to Party and Plan 40, 2019. Fabric on paper collage, acrylic paint, and pencil on paper, 72 × 36 inches. Courtesy of the artist and Luxembourg & Dayan, New York/London, and Salon 94, New York.
Derrick Adams (American, born 1970). Tables Turned 1, 2016. Fabric, paper, and acrylic paint on hardboard panel, 36 × 72 inches. Courtesy of the artist.
Derrick Adams (American, born 1970). Tables Turned 2, 2016. Fabric, paper, and acrylic paint on hardboard panel, 36 × 72 inches. Courtesy of the artist.
Derrick Adams (American, born 1970). Tables Turned 3, 2016. Fabric, paper, and acrylic paint on hardboard panel, 36 × 72 inches. Courtesy of the artist.
Derrick Adams (American, born 1970). Tables Turned 4, 2016. Fabric, paper, and acrylic paint on hardboard panel, 36 × 72 inches. Courtesy of the artist.
