Born in Orange, New Jersey, in 1960, Marina Adams has developed a distinct painterly language that engages deeply with the traditions of modernism, yet reimagines them through a vibrant, organic lens. Her work combines a rich array of cultural references, drawing inspiration from music, textiles, architecture, and the natural world. Her compositions are composed of undulating, interlocking shapes that pulse with energy, suggesting movement and physicality. This vitality, freed from its confinement in figuration, exists in a space of pure abstraction, unbound by the contingencies of the particular.
In many ways, Adams’ work is a celebration of the act of creating itself. Her large, asymmetrical shapes in saturated hues create a sense of rhythm and fluidity, reminiscent of the spontaneous gestures of jazz music or the intricate patterns of Moroccan rugs and Moorish mosaics. Yet these patterns transcend mere decoration; the vibrational interplay of colors characteristic of Marina Adams' paintings approaches cosmological meditation.
The artist's dedication to abstraction aligns her with predecessors like Joan Mitchell, Willem de Kooning, and Sonia Delaunay. Yet, Adams’ approach is distinctly her own. She conceives her work as an abstract experiment in meaning, subverting the traditional duality of essence and appearance. Oscillating between rigorous inquiry and spontaneous expression, her gestures navigate tension without seeking to dissolve it.
Educated at the Tyler School of Art at Temple University and Columbia University, Adams has received numerous accolades, including the prestigious John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship in 2016 and the Award of Merit Medal for Painting from the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 2018. Her works have been exhibited internationally, including solo show at the Longlati Foundation in Shanghai. Her paintings are also held in the collections of prominent institutions, such as the Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, further cementing her status as a significant figure in contemporary abstraction.