• Black Instagram Icon
  • Facebook Basic Black
  • Twitter Basic Black
  • Home

  • Artists

  • Exhibits

  • News

  • About

  • Contact

  • More

    SAMARA GALLERY

    SAMARA Gallery

    3100 Richmond Ave - Suite 104

    Houston TX 77098

    info@samaragallery.com

    713.999.1009

    Join our Mailing List

    Tracey Adams

    Biography

    ​

    Originally trained as a musician, Tracey completed her master’s degree at the New England Conservatory of Music in 1980; concurrently, she studied painting at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. She has had solo shows at the Monterey Museum of Art, the Fresno Museum of Art, and the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History. In 2003, she was invited to exhibit at the Andy Warhol Museum in Medzilaborce, Slovak Republic, a project supported by artist’s grants from the US Department of State and the Ministry of Culture. She is also a recipient of an Artist’s Grant from the Community Foundation of the Monterey Peninsula. Adams was recently awarded  a 2015 Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant. Her work is featured in Authentic Visual Voices (Catherine Nash, 2013) and Embracing Encaustic (Linda Womack, 2015). In 2014, Adams’ work was included in “The Circle Game” at the Tucson Art Museum, “Swept Away,” at the Hunterdon Museum of Art in Clinton, NJ and in “SHIFT: Five Decades of California Contemporary Painting” at the Monterey Museum of Art. She was invited to be the 2014 Visual Artist for the Music at Menlo Chamber Music Festival and Institute in Atherton, CA. Adams’ work is included in the collections of the Bakersfield Art Museum, the Crocker Museum, the Hunterdon Art Museum, the Monterey Museum of Art, the Fresno Art Museum, the Tucson Art Museum, and the Santa Barbara Museum of Art.

     

    Education

     

         1979-1981     Graduate work in printmaking, School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

         1980     MM, New England Conservatory of Music, Boston

         1978     BA, Mount St. Mary’s College, Los Angeles

    ​

    Artist Statement

    ​

    My lifelong interests – including music, science, mathematics and art – are constantly being woven and re-woven into my paintings and works on paper. Because of my background as a musician and conductor I have a strong feeling for musical metaphors and serial systems. My interest in music is especially present both in terms of the visual intervals and patterns that appear in my work; physical engagement and a sense of performance is always part of my studio practice.

    I am drawn to intersections: ideas that might seem to be at opposite ends of a continuum, like the organic and the geometric, are brought together in my work. My starting points vary: they can come from something personal, something glimpsed or from my experience of a piece of music. As a graduate student, I spent a lot of time around John Cage; his early influence, to this day, informs my studio practice of intention and chance.

    ​

    My works attempt to create environments that I want to find in myself: they represent internal worlds that I am attempting to externalize. My pieces are still, and are meant to express a form of serenity. However beauty is expressed, however it is felt, has to do with the feeling of calm, inside and out.  I love what the late jazz musician Charlie Haden said: “The artist’s job is to bring beauty into a conflicted world.”

    Each work and each series is a kind of diary of my explorations. My ideas evolve as I apply my intellect, my sense of order and my sense of play to the images and materials at hand. I do start with a kernel of an idea in mind, but somewhere between intention and chance I always find new energies and new directions. I’m never quite sure how a painting will look when it’s finished.

    Although I am always appreciative when art collectors, curators and dealers take an interest in my work, I am careful to maintain my creative freedom. I try to stay in the moment as I work and let the work surprise me. If it does that, I can present it to the public with a sense of integrity and share the joy of discovery.

    ​

    Artist CV

    ​

    Solo Exhibitions

    ​

         2017     Primordial Soup San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art, San Jose, CA (Curator: Cathy Kimball)

         2016     Cause and Effect: Mapping a Dialogue Bryant Street Gallery, Palo Alto, CA

         2014     Patterns of Infinity Bryant Street Gallery, Palo Alto and Winfield Gallery, Carmel

         2013     Lumenis Winfield Gallery, Carmel

         2012     Oblique Intention Patricia Rovzar Gallery, Seattle and Bryant Street Gallery, Palo Alto

         2011     Perspectives in Balance Anne Loucks Gallery, Glencoe, IL

                      Between Gesture and Geometry Fresno Art Museum, Fresno

         2010     Elements of Harmony Mark Gallery, Englewood, NJ

                      Between Gesture and Geometry Gebert Gallery, Venice, CA

                      Spontaneous Meditations Anne Loucks Gallery, Chicago

         2009     Synapse/Synapses Monterey Peninsula College, Monterey

                      Recent Encaustic Paintings Patricia Rovzar Gallery, Seattle

                      Mindful Inversions Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History and Bryant Street Gallery, Palo Alto

         2008     Recent Encaustic Paintings Patricia Rovzar Gallery, Seattle

         2007     Music of Spheres, Rhythm of Squares Melanee Cooper Gallery, Chicago

                      Thinking in Circles Bryant Street Gallery, Palo Alto

         2006     The Perfection of Imperfection Bryant Street Gallery, Palo Alto & Winterowd Fine Art, Santa Fe

         2005     The Symmetry of Asymmetry Monterey Museum of Art and Bryant Street Gallery, Palo Alto

         2003     Routines and Rituals Bryant Street Gallery, Palo Alto

         2002     Intervals: Gesture to Icon Kathryn Markel Fine Arts, New York City and Bryant Street Gallery,

         2001     Intimate Possibilities Sandy Carson Gallery, Denver and Bryant Street Gallery, Palo Alto

         2000     Broken Symmetry Kathryn Markel Fine Arts, New York City

         1999     New Work Andrea Schwartz Gallery, San Francisco

         1998     New Monotypes Winfield Gallery, Carmel

         1996     Ambiguities Monterey Peninsula College, Monterey

    ​

    Group Exhibitions

     

         2017     Spectral Light and Color, Samara Gallery, Houston, TX     

                      Brand Spanking Blue Bryant Street Gallery, Palo Alto, CA

                      Work X 5 Clark Gallery, Lincoln, MA

                      Art on Paper NY, K. Imperial Fine Art, San Francisco, CA

         2016     PAPER: burned, cut, folded and stitched Bryant Street Gallery, Palo Alto, CA (Curator: Tracey Adams)

                      Art on Paper K. Imperial Fine Art, NYC, NY

                      In the Abstract Anne Loucks Gallery, Glencoe, IL

                      24th Annual Group Exhibition Rovzar Gallery, Seattle, WA

         2015     Between The Spaces, Butters Gallery, Portland, OR (Curator: Elise Wagner)

                      Art on Paper, K. Imperial Fine Art, NYC, NY

                      ArtHamptons, Bruce Lurie Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

                      Adaptations, Patricia Rovzar Gallery, Seattle, WA

                      eXXpectations, Cornell Museum of Art, DelrayBeach, FL (Curator: Melanie Johanson)

                      Momentum Transferred, Bruce Lurie Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

         2014     Swept Away: Translucence, Transparence, Transcendence in Contemporary Encaustic Hunterdon Art Museum, Clinton, NJ

                      SHIFT: Five Decades of Contemporary California Painting Monterey Museum of Art, Monterey

                      The Circle Game Tucson Art Museum, Tucson

                      Outside/In K. Imperial Fine Art, San Francisco

         2013     Facing Forward, Recent Acquisitions: 2000 to Present Monterey Museum of Art, Monterey

                      Swept Away: Translucence, Transparence, Transcendence in Contemporary Encaustic Cape Cod Museum of Art, Dennis, MA                             (Curator of Exhibitions: Michael Giaquinto

                      Elephant in the Room: Contemporary Work in Encaustic Laconia Gallery, Boston (Curators: Linda Cordner and James Hull)

                      Conference Instructors Exhibition Schoolhouse Gallery, Provincetown

         2012     Winter Exhibition: Recent Acquisitions Bakersfield Museum of Art, Bakersfield

                      LA Art Show Gebert Gallery, LA Convention Center, Los Angeles

                      Affordable Art Fair Patricia Rovzar Gallery, Seattle Center, Seattle

         2011     Action Abstraction Mark Gallery, Englewood, NJ

                      Rock, Scissors, Paper: Bay Area Collage Bryant Street Gallery, Palo Alto

                      Third Anniversary Show Gebert Gallery, Venice, CA

                      San Francisco Fine Art Fair Bryant Street Gallery, San Francisco

         2010     Vessels Bakersfield Museum of Art, Bakersfield (Curator: Aaron Weisenfeld)

                      Los Angeles Art Fair Los Angeles Convention Center, Gebert Gallery, Venice, CA

                      Working with Wax: Contemporary Encaustic Painting in Northern California Santa Rosa Junior College, Santa Rosa, CA (Curator:                         Thomas Morphis)

         2009     PRINTED Cabrillo College Gallery, Aptos, CA (Juror: Archana Horsting)

                      Diverse Impressions: Bay Area Abstraction Triton Museum of Art, Santa Clara, CA (Curator: George Rivera)

                      225º F: Encaustic Encounters Turchin Center for the Arts, Boone, NC (Curator: Brook Bower)

                      4th Annual Encaustic Invitational Conrad Wilde Gallery, Tucson (Curator: Elizabeth Meigs)

         2008     trans+lucent Gebert Gallery, Venice, CA

                      New Encaustic Paintings Julie Nester Gallery, Park City

                      Relative Geometries Conrad Wilde Gallery, Tucson (Curator: Elizabeth Meigs)

                      Contemporary Ruin Escondido Museum, Escondido, CA (Curator: Olivia Luther)

                      A View of the Collection Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History, Santa Cruz

         2007     Three Encaustic Painters: Tracey Adams, Mark Rediske, Tony Scherman Carson Masuoka Gallery, Denver

                      Encaustic Works 2007 Ball State University, Muncie, IN and Watermark/Cargo Gallery, Kingston, NY (Juror: Joan Snyder)

                      California Views National Steinbeck Museum, Salinas, CA (Curator: Scott Shields)

                      Affordable Art Fair Julie Nester Gallery and Bryant Street Gallery, New York City

         2006     SFMOMA Art Auction 2006 San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco

                      Invitational Auction (fundraiser) San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art, San Jose

                      Art (212) The 69th Regiment Armory, Kathryn Markel Fine Arts, New York City

         2005     Gallery Artists Allene Lapides Gallery, Santa Fe

                      Works on Paper The 69th Regiment Armory, Kathryn Markel Fine Arts, New York City

                      Monothon San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art, San Jose

         2004     Between the Lines: Traveling Full Circle Carl Cherry Center for the Arts, Carmel

         2003     Images of Vermont (traveling exhibition) Andy Warhol Museum, Medzilaborce, Slovak Republic; Východoslovenská galéria v                           Kosiciach, Kosice, Slovak Republic; Sarisská galéria, Presov, Slovak Republic; and US Steel Towers, Pittsburgh

         2001     Juried Exhibition Monterey Museum of Art, Monterey (Juror: Cathy Kimball)

         2000     Invitational Miniature Show Bolinas Museum, Bolinas, CA

                      Artstravaganza Hunter Museum of American Art, Chattanooga (Curator: Helene Seeman)

         1999     Small Things Come in Good Packages Kathryn Markel Fine Arts, New York City

         1998     A Three Point Perspective Carl Cherry Center for the Arts, Carmel

                      Gallery Artists Solomon Projects, Atlanta

         1996     Five Gallery Artists Los Angeles County Museum Rental and Sales Gallery, Los Angeles

                      The Monotype: Method to Magic (Curator: Tobin Keller), Cabrillo College Gallery, Aptos, CA

         1995     Janet Turner National Print Competition CSU Chico, CA (Juror: Marion Epting)

                      National Works on Paper VII Valdosta University, Valdosta, GA (Juror: William Walmsley)

    ​

    Awards

    ​

         2015     Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant

         2014     Visual Artist, Music at Menlo Chamber Music Festival & Institute, Atherton, CA

         2007     Third-place, California Views: Portals and People,National Steinbeck Museum, Salinas, CA

         2005     Residency invitation, Bemis Art Center, Omaha, NE, to collaborate on public project in Slovak Republic with Virginia Folkestad                              and Lena Leskova

         2004     Artist’s Grant, Ministry of Culture, Slovak Republic, Between the Lines: Traveling Full Circle

                      Publication invitation, Trillium Press (Brisbane, CA) for a series of monoprints

         2003     Artist’s Grant, US Department of State, to support Images of Vermont exhibit at the Andy Warhol Museum, Medzilaborce, Slovakia

                      Artist’s Grant, US Steel, to support Images of Vermont exhibit at the Andy Warhol Museum, Medzilaborce, Slovakia and US Steel                        Towers, Pittsburgh

         1995     Scholarship, California State University, Long Beach to participate in “The Transient Image”

                      Artist’s Grant (printmaking), The Community Foundation of Monterey

                      Artist’s Fellowship, Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT

     

    Publications

     

    Catalogs

    ​

         2014     Swept Away: Translucence, Transparence,Transcendence in Contemporary Encaustic, Hunterdon Art Museum, Clinton, NJ

                      Patterns of Infinity, Paintings of Tracey Adams, Bryant Street Gallery, Palo Alto.

                      Ninth Annual Encaustic Invitational, Conrad Wilde Gallery, Tucson.

         2013     Lumenis, New Paintings of Tracey Adams, Winfield Gallery, Carmel.

                      Swept Away: Translucence, Transparence,Transcendence in Contemporary Encaustic, Cape Cod Museum of Art.

                      Elephant in the Room: Contemporary Work in Encaustic, Laconia Gallery, Boston.

         2009     Insight/Inside, LA St. Mary’s College, Los Angeles.

         2007     Encaustic Works 2007, Ball State University, Muncie, IN.

         2006     SFMOMA Art Auction 2006, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

         2005     The Symmetry of Asymmetry, Monterey Museum of Art, Monterey.

         2004     Between the Lines: Traveling Full Circle, Carl Cherry Center for the Arts, Carmel.

         2003     Images of Vermont (traveling exhibition), Andy Warhol Museum, Medzilaborce, Slovakia.

         2002     Intervals: Gesture to Icon, Kathryn Markel Fine Arts, New York City.

         2001     Intimate Possibilities, Carson Masuoka Gallery, Denver.

     

    Books

     

         2015     Linda Womack. Embracing Encaustic: Learning to Paint with Beeswax, Vol. III

         2013     Catherine Nash. Authentic Visual Voices: Contemporary Paper & Encaustic.

         2012     Michelle Belto. Paper + Wax: Techniques in Handmade Paper and Encaustic. Cincinnati: North Light Books.

         2010     Lissa Rankin. Encaustic: A Guide to Creating Fine Art with Wax. Watson-Gupthill.

         2009     Tracey Adams. Mindful Inversions (Santa Cruz Museum of Art). San Francisco: epressbooks.

     

    Selected Reviews/Articles

    ​

         2013     “Lumenis: New Paintings by Tracey Adams on View at the Winfield Gallery.” artdaily.org, 15 April.

                      Joanne Mattera. “Extravagent Light” (catalog essay). Swept Away: Translucence, Transparence, Transcendence in Contemporary                       Encaustic. Dennis, MA: The Cape Cod Museum of Art.

         2012     Debbi Lester. “Tracey Adams and Radix 3.” Art Access, 21 (Summer).

         2011     Donald Munro.“The Human Touch Exhibit Focuses on Form.” Fresno Bee, February 3.

         2009     Erin Clark. “Art Book Report: Mindful Inversions.” Artworks, Fall.

                      Regina Cano. “Exhibit Uses Patterns to Stimulate the Senses.” Chautauqua Daily, July 29.

                      Christine Robinson and Alicia Hawkins. Heart to Heart (cover art). Boston: Skinner House.

         2008     Geoff Wichert. “Color from the Hive.” 15 Bytes, September (www.artistsofutah.org).

         2007     Michael Paglia. “Four Encaustic Artists.” Denver Westword, December 20.

         2005     Lisa Crawford Watson. “The Symmetry of Asymmetry.” Monterey Herald, February 17.

                      Rick Deragon. “Shape Shifter.” Coast Weekly, January 20.

         2004     “Advanced States of Concentration.” Tricycle: The Buddhist Review, Winter.

         2003     “Pripomina vlnu i cudnu husenicu.” Korzar, March 24.

                      Miloslava Hriadelova. “Hladam ludi, ktori ma zaujmu.” Kosicky Vecer, March 26.

                      Rick Deragon. “Ancient Voyages.” Coast Weekly, November 26.

         2002     Rick Deragon. “Her Art, Her Story.” Coast Weekly, November 7.

         2001     Berin Golonu. “Previews: Tracey Adams.” Artweek, November 1.

         2000     Ann Nichols. “Artstravaganza 2000.” Chattanooga Free Press, May 21.

         1997     Terri Vandercook. “Women Artists Reflect Diversity.” Adventures in Dining, October 18.

         1996     Kathryn M. Nichols. “Monotype Artist’s Plate is Full.” Monterey Herald, February 1, p. 8.

                      George Rivera. “Magical Monoprints.” Artistwriter, March/April.

                      Lisa Crawford Watson. “Tracey Adams: Orchestrating Her Artistry.” Monterey Herald, August 4.

         1995     “Show of Monotypes, Woodcuts Opens with Public Reception.” Monterey Peninsula Review, May.

                      Terri Vandercook. “Synchronicity.” Coast Weekly, May 25.

     

    Interviews/Presentations

    ​

         2017     Tracey Adams. “Cut and Paste”, Professional Artist Magazine, January

         2016     Ora Sorensen. “Artists Paint with Wax.” Professional Artist Magazine, November

                      Kathryn Markel, “In Conversation with Tracey Adams,” www.markelfinearts.com, September

                      Elise Morris, “The Studio Work blog”, March 22

         2014     Visual Artist, Music at Menlo Chamber Music Festival & Institute, Atherton, CA, July-August.

         2013     “Cannibalism and the Art of Collage.” Presentation at the 7th International Encaustic Conference, Provincetown, 31 May.

         2011     Lynette Haggard. Interview with Tracey Adams, Carmel, CA, July 5 (lynettehaggard.blogspot.com).

         2008     “Becoming a Professional Artist.” Presentation at IEA conference, 10 May.

         2006     Julie Karabenick. GEOFORM online interview on geometric form and structure in contemporary abstract art.

         2003     Andrea Tomaschova. Vytvarnicka (television interview). Vychodoslovenska Galeria, March 25.

         2001     Maia Carroll. “Life in the Arts” (printmaking demonstration/interview). KMEX-TV, January 17.

         1998     Heidi Hybl. “Focus on the Arts” (interview). KUSP-FM, Santa Cruz, CA, July 1.

     

    ​

    Collections

     

    Museum Collections

    ​

         Bakersfield Museum of Art, Bakersfield

         Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento

         Fresno Museum of Art, Fresno

         Hunterdon Art Museum, Hunterdon, NJ

         New Museum of Los Gatos, Los Gatos, CA

         Monterey Museum of Art, Monterey

         Museum of Contemporary Art, Hot Springs, AR

         Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara

         Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History, Santa Cruz

         Tucson Museum of Art, Tucson

     

    Public Collections

    ​

         Beverly Hills Public Library, Beverly Hills

         Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Gardens, Dallas

         David & Lucille Packard Foundation, Los Altos, CA

         Monterey Bay Aquarium, Monterey

         New England Conservatory of Music, Boston

         Ohio State University Medical Center, Columbus

         Planned Parenthood of Massachusetts, Boston

         US Department of the Army, Washington DC

         US Department of the Army, Seoul, Korea

         US Department of State, Washington DC

         University of California, Santa Cruz

         UC Medical Center, San Francisco

         University of Wisconsin Medical Center, Madison

     

    Selected Corporate Collections

    ​

         Adobe Systems, San Jose

         AT&T Corporate Headquarters, Los Angeles

         Canon Corporation, San Jose

         The Chubb Group, Warren, NJ

         Fidelity Investments, Boston, MA

         Ford Motor Company, Dearborn

         General Electric Corporation, Stamford, CT

         Hallmark Corporate Headquarters, Kansas City, MO

         Intel, Inc., San Jose

         McKinsey & Co., Washington, DC

         Pfizer Pharmaceutical, New York City

         Sony Corporation, San Jose

         Sprint Corporate Headquarters, Overland Park, KS

         Stanford University Hospital, Stanford, CA

         Toyota Corporation, Torrance, CA

         VISA Corporate Headquarters, San Francisco