What are you up to during Black History Month? I’m blogging about visual and literary artists who inspire me. Let’s talk about:

Derrick Adams

I’d seen the work of Derrick Adams in art publications before, but not in person until “Packaged Black: “Derrick Adams and Barbara Earl Thomas” at the Henry Art Gallery. I came for Thomas’ work (see previous blog post), then stayed to soak up more of Adams’ paintings.

A few things I admire about his work in this particular exhibition:

• his use of acrylic paint on photographs, which feels like a type of collage

• the pop culture references, especially the series recalling Black hair style guide posters

This collaboration had been on hold since 2017, and then the pandemic struck — but Adams and Thomas still managed to pull together the exhibition. Talk about persistence in the face of obstacles…

The weekend is almost here, so let’s end the week with some laughs from my one of my favorite writer/pop culture observers. See you then.