Adam Pendleton, a central figure in contemporary American art, is known for paintings that have redefined the boundaries of abstraction. Upending linear compositional logic, Pendleton’s paintings are created through a distilled layering of gesture, fragment, and form. Each painting comes to life through expressionistic flourishes, stark contrasts, and subtle uses of material, tone, and finish, combined with a precision reminiscent of minimal and conceptual art. In 2008, he began to define his working method as Black Dada, a critical framework for exploring the relationship between Blackness, abstraction, and the historical avant-gardes—for which he is now widely recognized.
Pendleton’s painting process begins on paper, where he explores the full breadth of mark-making. He layers paint, spray paint, ink, and watercolor, 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
