Jamie Adams

Jamie Adams was born and raised in the suburbs of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. For undergraduate studies he attended Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, where he earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1983. In 2000, he earned a Master of Fine Arts from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia. 

Adams’ work can be found in the permanent collections of the Woodmere Art Museum, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, the MOMA Library, MOMA Wales, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art Research Library, Museu Brasileiro da Escultura (São Paulo, Brazil), the Daum Museum of Contemporary Art, the Pennsylvania Capitol Building, Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Michigan, and Washington University in St. Louis. 

Awards and residencies include the Violette deMazia Scholarship (Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia, Pa.) the Cité Internationale des Arts residency (Paris, France) and the Ragdale Foundation (Chicago, Ill.). 

His work has been cited internationally in publications such as Art in America, Bulletin du Musée Ingres (Montauban, France), Blisss Magazine, Novembre Magazine, the Huffington Post, Just Magazine, and Hi-Fructose Magazine. It has also been included in publications such as “Fragonard, Regards croisés” (Jean-pierre Cuzin, Dimitri Salmon / Département des Peintures, Musée du Louvre, 2007) and “The Figure: Painting, Drawing, and Sculpture” (McCann, Skira Rizzoli, 2014).

Personal Website

Three standing and two seated figures by a cloudy beach. The standing figure in the middle is standing on one leg on his tip toes with hands above his head. The standing figure on the right holds a tiny notebook as if writing in it.

Bubba Bebop, 2022

A seated figure holding a book curled up in a chair sleeping with two heads peeking from the back

Jeannie Blue Shirt, 2022

Seated figure looking at us wearing a large brown jacket holding a red shirt close to their chest

Jeannie Four Roses, 2022

A seated figure dressed in a white shirt and brown jacket and pants. A small dog is perched on the figure's arm looking away

Jeannie Pink Chair, 2022

Two figures looking at us. The adult has their fingers crossed and the child is leaning on the adult while holding a flower

Joannie Pair, 2022

A figure with long hair blowing in the wind holding a piece of fabric to their chest

Meg Red Green, 2022

A child-like face on a body wearing business attire

Painter Boy, 2020

Select Articles, Chapters, and Publications

“The Figure: Painting, Drawing, & Sculpture,” 2014, D. Kuspit, I. Sandler. Published by Skira Rizzoli, New York. (book/image reproduced)
“The Falls,” 2013, David Klein Gallery, Birmingham, MI. (exhibition catalogue/images)

Select Exhibitions and Presentations

“Not All Doors Are the Same,” Curated by Robert Zeller and Michael Ruple, Booth Gallery, New York City, 2019.
“It Could Be You: Portraits in a Constructed World,” Equity Gallery, NYAEA, New York City, 2019.

Select Awards and Grants

2000 – Violette deMazia Scholarship, Barnes Foundation
1999 – Mildred K. Cohen Memorial Award, Associated Artists of Pittsburgh

News

Seven figures in the foreground and another in the background: in the front are five people, four seated and one (much younger, perhaps a child) half-standing; the other person, in a soaked dress, lays with their left leg bent. Not to them are two images of landscapes. The two figures behind them are nude and look to the waterfalls in the background, one of whom is fixing their hair. The person in the background is unidentified, their arms crossed as they stand (to our) left, in a dark suit.

Q&A with Jamie Adams