American, b. 1930
Adams is best known for her sculpture and site-specific land art, as well as public art projects in transit systems, at airports, and universities. Her early fiber work, tapestries and woven forms, was prominent and influential among artists in the United States. Adams experimented with architectural forms: the wall, the corner, the column, and the vault. Often using flexible materials, such as latex and fibers, tarred ropes, chain link fencing.
The roots of Adams’ major public works, for instance the giant aluminum arches at the Denver International, and the diagrammatic boat frame at the Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International airport, are found in a seminal exhibition curated by Lucy Lippard at the Fischbach Gallery. This exhibition established Adams’ abstraction as a counterpoint to the work of many contemporaries. Her use of different knotting techniques and styles at an increased scale distinguished her visual language and engagement with physical space and architecture. Moving into public space, Adams analyzed and magnified architectural elements and forms, for instance barn architecture, work that was later shown at 55 Mercer Gallery and the Whitney Museum.
The roots of Adams’ major public works, for instance the giant aluminum arches at the Denver International, and the diagrammatic boat frame at the Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International airport, are found in a seminal exhibition curated by Lucy Lippard at the Fischbach Gallery. This exhibition established Adams’ abstraction as a counterpoint to the work of many contemporaries. Her use of different knotting techniques and styles at an increased scale distinguished her visual language and engagement with physical space and architecture. Moving into public space, Adams analyzed and magnified architectural elements and forms, for instance barn architecture, work that was later shown at 55 Mercer Gallery and the Whitney Museum.
