MICHAEL ADAMSON

"Few Canadian abstract painters exhibit their work globally with as much success as Adamson, his career enables him to be very much a beloved Canadian 'fixture' and achieve international appeal. He is a journeyman, voyageur and navigator, on an intellectual and aesthetic journey. One feels a comfort in his work, in that you want to live with it, love it like a friend, but also challenge it to take you deeper into its darker waters and someimes perplexing currents. In Adamson's words, 'the modern landscape is an invitation to look at everything'." Stephen Ranger, 2018. Open Road

Bio

Born in Toronto, Michael Adamson studied at the Emily Carr Institute of Art And Design in Vancouver, at Gesamtkunst Hochschule in Kassel, Germany and at Ryerson University in Toronto.

As Ron Moore observed, “Most striking about Adamson’s body of work is his use of color as a malleable property that is form, content and mark. His compositional strength and pervasive use of color dominates. His paintings collectively reference the atmospheres of personal experience and resonate with active states of mind resulting in a sophisticated, organized chaos.”

Adamson’s paintings have also been described as “lush, colour-saturated abstractions that reveal an overall energetic exuberance. Exploring both gesture and materiality, he builds his canvases with every brushstroke, developing the layers through definite marks, drips and scrapings. Adamson seduces the viewer with textures and layers of paint, which at times are punctuated with dots of colour.”