Adam Pendleton, a central figure in contemporary American painting, has redefined the medium as it relates to process and abstraction. Upending linear compositional logic, Pendleton’s paintings are created by a distilled layering of gesture, fragment, and form that mirrors the cacophony of contemporary experience. Each painting comes to life through its expressionistic flourishes, stark contrasts, and subtle uses of material, tone, and finish, as well as a precision reminiscent of minimal and conceptual art. Generative and poetic, his paintings create fluid and essential spaces for seeing, thinking, and feeling.
Pendleton’s painting process begins on paper by exploring the full breadth of mark-making. He layers paint, spray paint, ink, and watercolor, while integrating fragmentary text and geometric forms, often using stenciling techniques. These works on paper are photographed and then combined through a screen-printing process. Blurring distinctions between painting, drawing, and photography, the resulting paintings are a tangible manifestation of his belief in painting as a powerful “visual and conceptual force.”
Untitled (Movement)
2024
Silkscreen ink, black gesso on canvas
213.5 x 256 cm / 84 x 100 3/4 in
© Adam Pendleton
Untitled (Days)
2023
Silkscreen ink on canvas
127 x 152.5 cm / 50 x 60 in
© Adam Pendleton
Untitled (Days)
2023
Silkscreen ink and black gesso on canvas
127 x 152.5 cm / 50 x 60 in
© Adam Pendleton
Untitled (WE ARE NOT)
2021
Silkscreen ink on canvas
305 x 366 cm / 120 x 144 in
© Adam Pendleton
Untitled (WE ARE NOT)
2020–2021
Silkscreen ink on canvas
244 x 305 cm / 96 x 120 in
© Adam Pendleton
Untitled (WE ARE NOT)
2020
Silkscreen ink on canvas
244 x 175.5 cm / 96 × 69 in
© Adam Pendleton
Untitled (WE ARE NOT)
2019
Silkscreen ink on canvas
244 x 305 cm / 96 x 120 in
© Adam Pendleton
Untitled (WE ARE NOT)
2019
Silkscreen ink on canvas
244 × 175.5 cm / 96 × 69 in
© Adam Pendleton
Untitled (masks)
2019
Silkscreen ink on Mylar, 4 parts
Overall dimensions variable
Sheet, each 131 x 101 cm / 51 1/2 x 39 1/2 in
Frame, each 138 x 108 cm / 54 1/4 x 42 1/4 in
© Adam Pendleton
Black Dada (A/A)
2019
Silkscreen ink on canvas, 2 parts
Overall dims. 244 × 193 cm / 96 × 76 in
Panel, each 122 × 193 cm / 48 × 76 in
© Adam Pendleton
Black Dada Drawing (C)
2018–2019
Silkscreen on paper
Sheet 66.5 × 53 cm / 26 1/8 × 20 3/4 in
Frame 71 × 57 cm / 27 13/16 × 22 7/16 in
© Adam Pendleton
Black Dada Drawing (D/D)
2018
Silkscreen ink on paper
Sheet 66.5 × 53 cm / 26 1/8 × 20 3/4 in
Frame 71 × 57 cm / 27 13/16 × 22 7/16 in
© Adam Pendleton
Ishmael in the Garden: A Portrait of Ishmael Houston-Jones
2018
Black-and-white and color video, 24 minutes 15 seconds
Dimensions variable
© Adam Pendleton
System of Display, I (WRITING/Art of Black Africa, Kunsthaus Zurich, 1970)
2018
Silkscreen ink on plexiglass and mirror
25 x 25 x 8 cm / 9 7/8 x 9 7/8 x 3 1/8 in
© Adam Pendleton
System of Display, D (AROUND/Jean-Marie Straub, Not Reconciled, Or Only Violence Helps Where Violence Rules, 1965)
2011
Silkscreen ink on plexiglass and mirror
25 x 25 x 8 cm / 9 7/8 x 9 7/8 x 3 1/8 in
© Adam Pendleton
