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