ADAM PARKER SMITH
American, B.1978
Adam Parker Smith is the New York-based artist best known for his satiric sculptures depicting whimsical subjects such as humanoid cacti and swimming pool floats. At first glance, Smith’s three-dimensional objects appear playful, but are imbued with darker messaging and touch on socio-political issues such as environmental pollution and global warming.
Adam once said, “I feel like so many of my ideas start out as jokes, for better or worse.” He confesses that the subjects of his irreverently funny works are often culled from his fears, longings, obsessions, crushes, and causes of jealousy, though he’s also been known to buy ideas from his friends. Smith works with sculpture, video, assemblage, collage, and what he calls “a mixture of animated and static painting,” or paintings that have a mechanized component. Smith also likes to involve others in the creation of his works. In fact, his best-known work is Thanks (2013), an installation composed of items that he had clandestinely stolen from 77 artists over the course of many studio visits, including sketchbooks, tools, videos, and artworks. (The installation was mounted with Smith’s confession and the artists’ blessings).
“Adam considers the synthetic materials of today’s objects—such as mylar balloons, pool floats, and the polyester down of sleeping bags—which will inevitably outlast any individual experience, and even societal lifetimes, as these objects scatter indiscriminately through landfills across the globe”.
There is also an interplay between history and science-fiction as Smith merges the silhouettes of ancient coffins with otherworldly color choice observed on the totemic figures — shiny gradients that recall sunsets and celestial phenomena.
