12-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Washington Post
Johns Hopkins exhibit elevates the artists of its city
'Deconstruction Worker' points to the past, present and future of painting. This 2019 series by artist Derrick Adams includes portraits with skewed geometric features. His angular collages look back to the experiments in design that led to Dada and cubism more than a century ago. Composing subjects in profile, as Adams does, goes back even further. But the vibe is present tense: The sartorial flair of his figures, who are depicted in rich fabrics, nods to a whole host of contemporary Black artists, among them Mickalene Thomas and Lorna Simpson. Adams has made his place among them as one of the artists setting the agenda today.
