Works by Tracey Adams
Tracey Adams is an American abstract painter and printmaker. Her artworks reflect a strong interest in musical patterns, rhythms, lyrical compositional elements and what she calls a sense of performance. She lives and works in Carmel, California.
Adams earned her BA from Mount St. Mary's College in Los Angeles in 1978. She studied printmaking and painting at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston from 1979 to 1981, and earned her Master's Degree from the New England Conservatory of Music in 1980. She has received several fellowships and grants, including the Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant in 2015, a grant from the US Department of State and the Ministry of Culture, and a Vermont Studio Center Fellowship.
Technique
Adams works on panel and paper, using a mixture of paint, encaustic and graphite as well as elements of monotype and collage. Planning and intuition equally inform her process. Often, she will begin a work or a series from the perspective of an exact mathematical formula, planning compositional elements in advance. Other times she will begin with a grid structure then work within that structure, incorporating organic, performative gestures and expressive brushwork. Regardless where a particular work begins, Adams engages in an open, exploratory process that allows the work to evolve. Often the finished result is a mixture of her original idea and her instinct, creating a composition that captures the essence of the harmony of mind and emotion.
Inspiration
Her background in music is what most inspires Tracey Adams. Her works draw heavily on musical structure, rhythm and composition. Her color choices speak to her personal surroundings living on a peninsula near Monterrey in central California. The light off of the water, the muting capacity of the fog, the colors of the setting sun and the palette of the lush local flora all find their way into her work. While a graduate student, Adams was able to work often with the composer and artist John Cage, who profoundly influenced her progress. She has said that her work strives to capture the calmness and beauty of an environment she would like to be in herself.
“I live near the Pacific ocean and walk along the beach everyday - all the beautiful limb-like forms of seaweed and algae find their way into my work as do the colors of the water, sky and tree forms. I work on a continuum of organic gesture to geometry. They represent two distinct, but very real sides of who I am. My mind is very organized…while at the same time, I love to draw in an unrestricted and intuitive way with lots of physical movement. The challenge comes in trying to merge both cohesively.”
Adams has exhibited extensively in solo and group shows throughout the United States and occasionally in Europe.
Collections
Work by Adams is part of the permanent collections of several museums, including the Bakersfield Art Museum, the Monterey Museum of Art, the Fresno Art Museum, the Tucson Art Museum, and the Santa Barbara Museum of Art. Her work is also part of multiple corporate collections, including those of Adobe Systems, AT&T Corporate Headquarters, Hallmark Corporate Headquarters, Sony Corporation, and Intel.
Solo Exhibitions
2018
Primordial Soup San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art, San Jose, CA (Curator: Cathy Kimball)
2016
Cause and Effect: Mapping a Dialogue Bryant Street Gallery, Palo Alto, CA
2014
Patterns of Infinity Bryant Street Gallery, Palo Alto and Winfield Gallery, Carmel
2013
Lumenis Winfield Gallery, Carmel
2012
Oblique Intention Patricia Rovzar Gallery, Seattle and Bryant Street Gallery, Palo Alto
2011
Perspectives in Balance Anne Loucks Gallery, Glencoe, IL
Between Gesture and Geometry Fresno Art Museum, Fresno
2010
Elements of Harmony Mark Gallery, Englewood, NJ
Between Gesture and Geometry Gebert Gallery, Venice, CA
Spontaneous Meditations Anne Loucks Gallery, Chicago
2009
Synapse/Synapses Monterey Peninsula College, Monterey
Recent Encaustic Paintings Patricia Rovzar Gallery, Seattle
Mindful Inversions Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History and Bryant Street Gallery, Palo Alto
2008
Recent Encaustic Paintings Patricia Rovzar Gallery, Seattle
2007
Music of Spheres, Rhythm of Squares Melanee Cooper Gallery, Chicago
Thinking in Circles Bryant Street Gallery, Palo Alto
2006
The Perfection of Imperfection Bryant Street Gallery, Palo Alto & Winterowd Fine Art, Santa Fe
2005
The Symmetry of Asymmetry Monterey Museum of Art and Bryant Street Gallery, Palo Alto
2003
Routines and Rituals Bryant Street Gallery, Palo Alto
2002
Intervals: Gesture to Icon Kathryn Markel Fine Arts, New York City and Bryant Street Gallery,
2001
Intimate Possibilities Sandy Carson Gallery, Denver and Bryant Street Gallery, Palo Alto
2000
Broken Symmetry Kathryn Markel Fine Arts, New York City
1999
New Work Andrea Schwartz Gallery, San Francisco
1998
New Monotypes Winfield Gallery, Carmel
1996
Ambiguities Monterey Peninsula College, Monterey
Selected Group Exhibitions
2017
Storied Paper Carl Cherry Center for the Arts Carmel, CA (Curator: Robert Reese)
Brand Spanking Blue Bryant Street Gallery, Palo Alto, CA
Work X 5 Clark Gallery, Lincoln, MA
Art on Paper NY, K. Imperial Fine Art, San Francisco, CA
2016
PAPER: burned, cut, folded and stitched Bryant Street Gallery, Palo Alto, CA (Curator: Tracey Adams)
Art on Paper K. Imperial Fine Art, NYC, NY
In the Abstract Anne Loucks Gallery, Glencoe, IL
24th Annual Group Exhibition Rovzar Gallery, Seattle, WA
2015
Between The Spaces, Butters Gallery, Portland, OR (Curator: Elise Wagner)
Art on Paper, K. Imperial Fine Art, NYC, NY
ArtHamptons, Bruce Lurie Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Adaptations, Patricia Rovzar Gallery, Seattle, WA
eXXpectations, Cornell Museum of Art, DelrayBeach, FL (Curator: Melanie Johanson)
Momentum Transferred, Bruce Lurie Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2014
Swept Away: Translucence, Transparence, Transcendence in Contemporary EncausticHunterdon Art Museum, Clinton, NJ
SHIFT: Five Decades of Contemporary California Painting Monterey Museum of Art, Monterey
The Circle Game Tucson Art Museum, Tucson
Outside/In K. Imperial Fine Art, San Francisco
2013
Facing Forward, Recent Acquisitions: 2000 to Present Monterey Museum of Art, Monterey
Swept Away: Translucence, Transparence, Transcendence in Contemporary Encaustic Cape Cod Museum of Art, Dennis, MA (Curator of Exhibitions: Michael Giaquinto
Elephant in the Room: Contemporary Work in Encaustic Laconia Gallery, Boston (Curators: Linda Cordner and James Hull)
Conference Instructors Exhibition Schoolhouse Gallery, Provincetown
2012
Winter Exhibition: Recent Acquisitions Bakersfield Museum of Art, Bakersfield
LA Art Show Gebert Gallery, LA Convention Center, Los Angeles
Affordable Art Fair Patricia Rovzar Gallery, Seattle Center, Seattle
2011
Action Abstraction Mark Gallery, Englewood, NJ
Rock, Scissors, Paper: Bay Area Collage Bryant Street Gallery, Palo Alto
Third Anniversary Show Gebert Gallery, Venice, CA
San Francisco Fine Art Fair Bryant Street Gallery, San Francisco
2010
Vessels Bakersfield Museum of Art, Bakersfield (Curator: Aaron Weisenfeld)
Los Angeles Art Fair Los Angeles Convention Center, Gebert Gallery, Venice, CA
2010
Working with Wax: Contemporary Encaustic Painting in Northern California Santa Rosa Junior College, Santa Rosa, CA (Curator: Thomas Morphis)
2009
PRINTED Cabrillo College Gallery, Aptos, CA (Juror: Archana Horsting)
Diverse Impressions: Bay Area Abstraction Triton Museum of Art, Santa Clara, CA (Curator: George Rivera)
225º F: Encaustic Encounters Turchin Center for the Arts, Boone, NC (Curator: Brook Bower)
4th Annual Encaustic Invitational Conrad Wilde Gallery, Tucson (Curator: Elizabeth Meigs)
2008
trans+lucent Gebert Gallery, Venice, CA
New Encaustic Paintings Julie Nester Gallery, Park City
Relative Geometries Conrad Wilde Gallery, Tucson (Curator: Elizabeth Meigs)
Contemporary Ruin Escondido Museum, Escondido, CA (Curator: Olivia Luther)
A View of the Collection Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History, Santa Cruz
2007
Three Encaustic Painters: Tracey Adams, Mark Rediske, Tony Scherman Carson Masuoka Gallery, Denver
Encaustic Works 2007 Ball State University, Muncie, IN and Watermark/Cargo Gallery, Kingston, NY (Juror: Joan Snyder)
California Views National Steinbeck Museum, Salinas, CA (Curator: Scott Shields)
Affordable Art Fair Julie Nester Gallery and Bryant Street Gallery, New York City
2006
SFMOMA Art Auction 2006 San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco
Invitational Auction (fundraiser) San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art, San Jose
Art (212) The 69th Regiment Armory, Kathryn Markel Fine Arts, New York City
2005
Gallery Artists Allene Lapides Gallery, Santa Fe
Works on Paper The 69th Regiment Armory, Kathryn Markel Fine Arts, New York City
Monothon San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art, San Jose
2004
Between the Lines: Traveling Full Circle Carl Cherry Center for the Arts, Carmel
2003
Images of Vermont (traveling exhibition) Andy Warhol Museum, Medzilaborce, Slovak Republic; Východoslovenská galéria v Kosiciach, Kosice, Slovak Republic; Sarisská galéria, Presov, Slovak Republic; and US Steel Towers, Pittsburgh
2001
Juried Exhibition Monterey Museum of Art, Monterey (Juror: Cathy Kimball)
2000
Invitational Miniature Show Bolinas Museum, Bolinas, CA
Artstravaganza Hunter Museum of American Art, Chattanooga (Curator: Helene Seeman)
1999
Small Things Come in Good Packages Kathryn Markel Fine Arts, New York City
1998
A Three Point Perspective Carl Cherry Center for the Arts, Carmel
Gallery Artists Solomon Projects, Atlanta
1996
Five Gallery Artists Los Angeles County Museum Rental and Sales Gallery, Los Angeles
The Monotype: Method to Magic (Curator: Tobin Keller), Cabrillo College Gallery, Aptos, CA
1995
Janet Turner National Print Competition CSU Chico, CA (Juror: Marion Epting)
National Works on Paper VII Valdosta University, Valdosta, GA (Juror: William Walmsley)
2015
Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant
2014
Visual Artist, Music at Menlo Chamber Music Festival & Institute, Atherton, CA
2007
Third-place, California Views: Portals and People,National Steinbeck Museum, Salinas, CA
2005
Residency invitation, Bemis Art Center, Omaha, NE, to collaborate on public project in Slovak Republic with Virginia Folkestad and Lena Leskova
2004
Artist’s Grant, Ministry of Culture, Slovak Republic, Between the Lines: Traveling Full Circle
Publication invitation, Trillium Press (Brisbane, CA) for a series of monoprints
2003
Artist’s Grant, US Department of State, to support Images of Vermont exhibit at the Andy Warhol Museum, Medzilaborce, Slovakia
Artist’s Grant, US Steel, to support Images of Vermont exhibit at the Andy Warhol Museum, Medzilaborce, Slovakia and US Steel Towers, Pittsburgh
1995
Scholarship, California State University, Long Beach to participate in “The Transient Image”
Artist’s Grant (printmaking), The Community Foundation of Monterey
Artist’s Fellowship, Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT
Museum Collections
Bakersfield Museum of Art, Bakersfield
Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento
Fresno Museum of Art, Fresno
Hunterdon Art Museum, Hunterdon, NJ
New Museum of Los Gatos, Los Gatos, CA
Monterey Museum of Art, Monterey
Museum of Contemporary Art, Hot Springs, AR
Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara
Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History, Santa Cruz
Tucson Museum of Art, Tucson
Public Collections
Beverly Hills Public Library, Beverly Hills
Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Gardens, Dallas
David & Lucille Packard Foundation, Los Altos, CA
Monterey Bay Aquarium, Monterey
New England Conservatory of Music, Boston
Ohio State University Medical Center, Columbus
Planned Parenthood of Massachusetts, Boston
US Department of the Army, Washington DC
US Department of the Army, Seoul, Korea
US Department of State, Washington DC
University of California, Santa Cruz
UC Medical Center, San Francisco
University of Wisconsin Medical Center, Madison
Selected Corporate Collections
Adobe Systems, San Jose
AT&T Corporate Headquarters, Los Angeles
Canon Corporation, San Jose
The Chubb Group, Warren, NJ
Fidelity Investments, Boston, MA
Ford Motor Company, Dearborn
General Electric Corporation, Stamford, CT
Hallmark Corporate Headquarters, Kansas City, MO
Intel, Inc., San Jose
McKinsey & Co., Washington, DC
Pfizer Pharmaceutical, New York City
Sony Corporation, San Jose
Sprint Corporate Headquarters, Overland Park, KS
Stanford University Hospital, Stanford, CA
Toyota Corporation, Torrance, CA
VISA Corporate Headquarters, San Francisco