Adam Pendleton facts for kids

Adam Pendleton (born 1984) is an American artist. He creates many different kinds of art. These include paintings, collages, videos, and performances. He often uses language and history in new ways. He takes images and ideas and gives them new meanings.

His art has been shown in famous museums. These include the Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art. His work has also been seen in Paris and other places around the world. Forbes Magazine has featured him twice. He was on their "30 Under 30" list.

Adam Pendleton lives and works in New York City and Germantown, New York.

Becoming an Artist

Adam Pendleton was born in 1984 in Richmond, Virginia. He finished high school early. Then, he went to study art in Northern Italy. In 2002, when he was 18, he moved to New York City. He wanted to become a full-time artist.

How He Creates Art

Adam Pendleton mixes different art forms. He combines ideas, images, music, and words. He uses things from philosophy and important historical events. This creates complex artworks. They can be understood in many ways.

He often focuses on key moments in Black American history. This includes the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. He also looks at the recent Black Lives Matter movement. This movement started after the killing of Trayvon Martin.

His Art Projects

In 2005, Adam Pendleton had his first solo art show. It was called Deeper Down There. He showed paintings with lines from modern African-American literature. He also made paintings that looked like large record album covers. The New York Times said his work was "coolly intellectual."

The Revival Performance

In 2007, Pendleton created a performance piece. It was called The Revival. He wore a white tuxedo jacket and bright green shoes. He gave a speech like a sermon. A 30-person gospel choir sang with him. His speech used words from famous poets. It also included political and protest language. An art critic from The New York Times called him "the most charismatic performer."

Video Art: BAND tracks

In 2009, he made a video installation. It was called BAND tracks. This video followed the band Deerhoof. It showed them creating a new song. The video was inspired by an old film. That film showed The Rolling Stones recording a song. Pendleton's video also included parts of a 1971 documentary. This documentary was about a young member of the Black Panther Party.

The Abolition of Alienated Labor

In 2010, Pendleton's work was shown at MoMA PS1. His art piece was named The Abolition of Alienated Labor. It featured drawings and images. These images came from the 1950s African independence movement. They also came from a 1960s film. He silk-screened these images onto large mirrors. The title of his work comes from an older art piece. That piece had the same phrase painted on it. Pendleton says his work explores "experimental gestures." It also looks at the idea of a political framework.

Black Dada Series

"Black Dada" is a key idea in Adam Pendleton's art. He says it's "a way to talk about the future while talking about the past." It helps us understand our present time. His Black Dada paintings show parts of Sol LeWitt's cube sculptures. They also have letters from the phrase "Black Dada." The phrase comes from a 1964 poem. Pendleton explains that "Dada" means "yes, yes." And "black" is an open-ended word. In 2011, The Museum of Modern Art bought his painting Black Dada (LK/LC/AA).

System of Display

System of Display is another series of works. It uses mirrors, letters, and silk-screened images. These images are taken from art books and other publications. They include photos of a famous art show. They also show a couple dancing during a celebration in Congo. Pendleton wants to "establish a system of display." He wants us to rethink the past and the future.

Becoming Imperceptible

In 2016, his exhibition Becoming Imperceptible opened. Its name comes from philosophical writings. This show mixes old art styles with Black historical movements. It blends different ideas, people, and images. They all come together in the art space.

Black Dada Reader

In 2017, Pendleton published the Black Dada Reader. This book is a collection of texts. It includes writings by many authors and thinkers. It also has new essays. The New York Times called it one of the best art books of 2017.

The New York Times Magazine Cover

In 2020, Adam Pendleton designed a special cover. It was for The New York Times Magazine. The cover featured a speech by Frederick Douglass. Images were placed over the speech. This suggested a gap between America's promise of freedom and its history.

Other Activities

• Drawing Center, Member of the Board of Directors (since 2020)
• Institute for Contemporary Art at VCU, Member of the advisory board (since 2019)

Art Market and Collectors

In 2012, Adam Pendleton joined Pace Gallery. He was the youngest artist to join them since the 1970s. His first show with Pace was in London. Since 2020, he also works with David Kordansky Gallery in Los Angeles. Famous collectors own his art. These include Steven A. Cohen, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Venus Williams.

In 2023, Pendleton and Venus Williams organized a charity auction. It was held at Pace Gallery. The money raised will help save the childhood home of Nina Simone. Pendleton bought Simone's home in 2017. He bought it with other artists.

Exhibitions

Selected Solo Exhibitions

• Adam Pendleton: To Divide By, Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, St. Louis, Missouri (2023-2024)
• Adam Pendleton. Blackness, White, and Light, Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien (2023)
• Adam Pendleton: Who is Queen?, MoMA (2021–2022)
• Adam Pendleton, Le Consortium (2020)
• List Projects: Adam Pendleton, MIT List Visual Arts Center (2018)
• Adam Pendleton: shot him in the face, Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art (2017)
• Becoming Imperceptible, Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland (2017)
• Adam Pendleton: BAND, The Kitchen (2010)

Selected Group Exhibitions

• Public Movement: On Art, Politics, and Dance, Moderna Museet (2017)
• I am you, you are too, Walker Art Center (2017)
• The Eighth Climate (What does art do?), 11th Gwangju Biennale (2016)
• The Language of Things, Public Art Fund, City Hall Park, New York (2016)
• Personne et les autres, Belgian Pavilion, 56th International Art Exhibition, La Biennale di Venezia (2015)
• Ecstatic Alphabets/Heaps of Language, Museum of Modern Art (2012)
• La Triennale 2012: Intense Proximity, Palais de Tokyo (2012)
• Greater New York 2010, P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center (2010)
• Afro-Modernism: Journeys through the Black Atlantic, Tate Liverpool (2010)
• The Generational: Younger Than Jesus, New Museum of Contemporary Art (2009)
• Performa 07: The Second Biennial of New Visual Art Performance (2007)

Selected Public Collections

Adam Pendleton's art is part of many important public collections. These include:

• Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh
• Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York
• Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago