The art of Adam McEwen straddles the joyous and the funereal. After penning obituaries for the Daily Telegraph in London, he started writing about current figures like Jeff Koons and Bill Clinton, underlining the hazy boundary between fact and fiction. The painting, sculpture, and installation mediums are all freely included into the artist’s work. He is well known for his life-sized graphite sculptures of everyday objects like an ATM, a water fountain, or a credit card. He is also known for his Bomber Harris series, which consists of monochromatic paintings covered in chewed gum, and for his prints on sponges, which combine nostalgic and archival elements to produce an odd fusion of objective feelings and historical gaze. His three-dimensional item compositions sometimes elicit a sense of discomfort in the observer or create an uncontrollable and subjective narrative, like montage.
McEwen’s work has been shown in major exhibitions around the world, including at Midway Contemporary Art, Minneapolis, MN USA; P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, New York, NY USA; Rubell Family Collection, Miami, FL USA; Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami, FL USA; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY USA; New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York, NY USA; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY USA; de la Cruz Collection Contemporary Art Space, Miami, FL USA. McEwen’s work was included Whitney Biennial, New York, NY USA. Recent solo exhibitions include The McAllister Institute, New York, USA; The Goss Michael Foundation, Dallas, TX USA; The Modern Institute, Glasgow, UK; Museo Civico Diocesano di Santa Maria dei Servi, Città della Piene, Italy; The Modern Institute, Glasgow, Scotland; and Aspen Art Museum, Aspen, CO USA.
McEwen’s works are in the public collections of the Rubell Family Collection, Miami, FL USA; Julia Stoschek Collection, Düsseldorf, Germany; The Brant Foundation Art Study Center, Greenwich, CT USA; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY USA; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY USA; Aberdeen Art Gallery and Museum, Aberdeen, Scotland; Jumex Collection, Mexico City, Mexico; de la Cruz Collection, Miami, FL USA; and Arts Council Collection, UK.
McEwen has curated various projects and exhibitions, including Fresh Hell, Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France; Power, Corruption and Lies, with Neville Wakefield; Roth Horowitz, New York, NY USA; Interstate, Nicole Klagsbrun Gallery, New York, NY USA; and Beneath the Underdog with Nate Lowman; Gagosian, New York, NY USA
