Each year he delivers new career milestones \u2014 a trend set to continue in 2026: Adams\u2019 debut art book published weeks ago, while \u201cView Master,\u201d<\/a> a comprehensive exhibition of his works from the last two decades, opens at the Institute of Contemporary Art \/ Boston in April. But Adams\u2019 heart remains in Baltimore, where he\u2019s determined to uplift the creative class.<\/p>\n \u201cAs I started to become more established, I realized there are so many different things happening that I needed to take advantage of in order to help what I\u2019m doing in Baltimore,\u201d Adams told me over happy hour in New York\u2019s Chelsea neighborhood.<\/p>\n Amtrak may be Adams\u2019 third home. Recently, he left early from his own party \u2014 this time at a Nordstrom pop-up store for the debut of his Marc Jacobs collaboration \u2014 to catch a late southbound train.<\/p>\n \u201cMy friends here are like, \u2018Why are you going to Baltimore again?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018What our community needs\u2019<\/p>\n When Adams says his hometown deserves more prominence in the art world, his words carry weight. <\/p>\n The multidisciplinary artist\u2019s works hang in museums around the country, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art, and he\u2019s exhibited in cities like Seoul, Los Angeles and Hong Kong. <\/p>\n Best known for his paintings and collage work, Adams also practices sculpture, photography, and video and performance art. He\u2019s produced large-scale installations like 2023\u2019s \u201cThe City Is My Refuge,\u201d<\/a> where Adams\u2019 trademark geometric, collage-like faces greeted train riders at New York\u2019s Penn Station.<\/p>\n Adams\u2019 2024 work \u201cOnly Happy Thoughts\u201d is an acrylic and fabric collage. (John Bergens)<\/p>\n His work has garnered raves from publications like The New York Times, which named<\/a> his 2023 \u201cknockout show\u201d at the Flag Art Foundation a Critic\u2019s Pick: \u201cWhat he mainly reveals is a new level of maturity and ambition in his already distinguished art, with its layered view of Black life and culture in America.\u201d<\/p>\n Adams\u2019 new monograph, a sublime pink coffee-table tome, explores the artist\u2019s evolution across 150 works. The sumptuous slices of American Black life capture the development of Adams\u2019 own visual language, delightfully blending his formal technique with Cubist, pop-art and pop-culture influences.<\/p>\n Depicting everyday life and leisure is a deliberate choice for Adams, who has no interest in bringing more images of Black pain and oppression into the world.<\/p>\n \u201cThat never gave me anything,\u201d he said. \u201cMy work was never pushing against something else. My work was more centering what I wanted to talk about.\u201d<\/p>\n Maryland first lady Dawn Moore, an arts enthusiast, said Adams\u2019 work is \u201cwhat our community needs.\u201d Adams loaned his famous \u201cFloaters\u201d series to the first family, and its nine swimming pool paintings hang in their home. They are some of Adams\u2019 most beloved pieces \u2014 radiant scenes of untroubled men, women and kids lounging on sprinkled donuts, a flamingo and other inflatables.<\/p>\n \u201cFloater 93\u201d by Derrick Adams. The 2020 work is part of a swimming pool series by the Baltimore-born artist. (Courtesy of Monacelli)<\/p>\n The series also subverts the stereotype that Black people don\u2019t know how to swim.<\/p>\n \u201cI love that it\u2019s showing us in this recreational way and inspiring people to want to maybe even jump in the water, learn to swim and learn to be joyful in the water,\u201d Moore said. \u201cIt\u2019s just a beautiful piece.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018Gotta keep that smoke\u2019<\/p>\n As Adams\u2019 profile continues to grow globally, his focus is still largely on Baltimore \u2014 namely Charm City Cultural Cultivation, his nonprofit foundation headquartered on Greenmount Avenue, and its ambitious, arts-focused initiatives. <\/p>\n Core programs under the nonprofit\u2019s umbrella include a residency program, The Last Resort Artist Retreat; the archival initiative Black Baltimore Digital Database; and Zora\u2019s Den, which supports Black women writers. All were created by Adams to give emerging artists spaces to work and shine light on both local and visiting creatives.<\/p>\n \u201cI was so inspired by being in the space,\u201d Chicago artist Eric January said of his four-week stay at the retreat, an invitation-only program that welcomes a rotating cast of Black artists, with at least one person per class from Baltimore. \u201cI ended up creating so much, just being captivated from that energy and from my cohort.\u201d<\/p>\n Adams said it feels like there are more young, enthusiastic artists than ever in Baltimore who just need a support system. His nonprofit\u2019s work aims to fill the gaps. <\/p>\n \u201cWe gotta keep that smoke, keep that steam. You\u2019ve gotta keep that joy of being here,\u201d Adams said while Baltimore recently. \u201cAnd the only way you\u2019re going to do it is by giving them some source of support that is non-transactional.\u201d<\/p>\n Benefiting Baltimore<\/p>\n Adams clearly loves Baltimore. He also felt he had to leave it to pursue his ambitions.<\/p>\n Growing up in Park Heights in the \u201970s, he harnessed his creativity from an early age. At 9 years old, he won a city-wide student art contest that landed his drawing of a Black family playing together in their living room on a City Hall wall.<\/p>\n College brought Adams to New York, where he graduated from the Pratt Institute in 1996. He then became a gallerist at Chelsea\u2019s pioneering Rush Arts Gallery, founded by the famous Simmons brothers: Russell of Def Jam, Joseph of Run-D.M.C. and Danny, an abstract painter \u2014 all of whom are Adams\u2019 cousins. There, Adams exclusively showed Black artists and cultivated a community that prioritized marginalized voices.<\/p>\n Artist and Maryland Institute College of Art professor Tony Shore said the ripple effects of Adams\u2019 time at Rush are still felt today.<\/p>\n Adams says his heart remains in Baltimore, where he\u2019s determined to uplift the creative class. (Jessica Gallagher\/The Banner)<\/p>\n \u201cIn the past 15 years, there\u2019s been a real uptick and appreciation for Black artists and an attempt to try and correct so many wrongs that have been done in the past by overlooking them,\u201d Shore said. \u201cA large part of that happening in the art world could be attributed to some of the things that Derek has done.\u201d<\/p>\n Adams has branched out in unexpected ways, too: In 2021, he collaborated with Jay-Z on a non-fungible token<\/a> (remember that crypto fad?) that sold for $139,000. Tiffany and Co. commissioned an Adams painting, which led the luxury jewelry brand to donate to the Baltimore retreat.<\/p>\n More recently, cannabis brand Gotham sold licensed merchandise based on Adams\u2019 art, while his fall Marc Jacobs collaboration resulted in Converse sneakers, a leather shoulder bag and other fashion items.<\/p>\n To Adams, these brand partnerships are a means to an end: to further fund his efforts in Baltimore.<\/p>\n \u201cI have no other reason to join forces outside of my studio practice \u2014 because I don\u2019t need to do it \u2014 other than thinking about how to leverage my presence, my so-called brand, to benefit Baltimore,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Adams is known for his command of color and stately portraits, like \u201cStyle Variation 35.\u201d (John Bergens)<\/p>\n It\u2019s not lip service. Adams continues to show up for his hometown, whether he\u2019s spearheading the public art project \u201cInviting Light\u201d<\/a> in Station North or co-curating Artscape\u2019s recent Scout Art Fair<\/a>. He also co-owns the beloved dive bar Mount Royal Tavern, which exhibits local artists\u2019 work. <\/p>\n![\"Adams’](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/AVYRFXMIEFBGROUBVEDSSUN6H4.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"“Floater](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/3W4P372NNVAULKDGRWTG2VKTIM.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Multidisciplinary](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/HFTZ35YTQBFTRNECZ2CDMQOV6Y.JPG\")
<\/p>\n![\"Adams](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/AFUGYMBB6VF3DAWUS2S2SVKYTI.jpg\")
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