Atticus Adams
METAL MESH ARTIST
"Atticus Adams isn't afraid to revisit his childhood memories. Born in Oregon but raised in West Virginia, Adams speaks often, with a soft, Southern twang, of summers spent at his grandmother's house. The green apples and salt she would prepare in the August heat, playing with dress linings in her fashion trunks, or the look of the weathered screen of her porch door all appear as oblique references in his work. Adams' memories and sculptures take on the Faulkner-like saga of summers in Appalachia: soft silk weeds that float above wild, overgrown grass, floral petals tilted by a summer rain, or the algae-like from mountain streams and creeks. His chosen material of metal and copper is durable but porous, nimble but sharp. Like his malleable but prickly materials, Adams' carries himself with a mixture of Southern hospitality and the strength of a generation of pioneers."
Jessica A. Beck, The Milton Fine Curator Of Art at The Andy Warhol Museum
Atticus grew up steeped in traditional folk art. Several members of his family were self-taught artists, deeply involved in such crafts as wood carving and quilting. “Making tangible objects is definitely part of my family heritage,” – “I come from a tradition of using simple, easily available materials for creative expression - I like to think of my work as Neo-Appalachian Folk Art"
His formal art training includes stints at Yale School of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, and Harvard School of Architecture.
Atticus's art has been exhibited in national institutions like The Carnegie Museum of Art, The Mattress Factory, and The Westmoreland Museum of American Art.
His awards include receiving Artist of the Year from the Pittsburgh Center For the Arts in 2018. And his sculptures are now found in public and private collections in the USA, Great Britain, Spain, Australia, Saudi Arabia, China, and The Philippines.