Mason Gross Alum Alonzo Adams Captures Contemporary Black Experience in New Paintings at the Zimmerli

Alonzo Adams Captures Contemporary Black Experience in New Paintings at the Zimmerli

Mason Gross Alum Comes Full Circle at the Rutgers—New Brunswick Art Museum

New Brunswick, NJ (August 31, 2023)—In the early 1980s, Alonzo Adams took some of his first art courses—with no intention of pursuing a creative career—in Ballantine Hall, now part of the galleries of the Zimmerli Art Museum. Today, the figurative painter describes himself as a storyteller whose works aspire to capture and immortalize contemporary Black experience in America.

The Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers—New Brunswick is pleased to present Alonzo Adams: A Griot’s Vision, on view from Sept. 13, 2023, to Feb. 25, 2024. The exhibition features nearly 25 works, including six oil paintings created this year and important paintings loaned from private collections. To emphasize Adams’s return to Rutgers, the exhibition includes several early works: his first oil painting, his first etching and lithograph. In addition, never before exhibited sketches are on view.

Adams is attending three events at the Zimmerli. On Sept. 13, he is speaking during the museum’s public reception for eight fall exhibitions. The public is also invited to a free exhibition reception for A Griot’s Vision on Sept. 23. The Rutgers African American Alumni Alliance (RAAA) hosts a gathering at the Zimmerli for the Rutgers community on Oct. 13, as part of its Homecoming/Reunion Week activities. The event features an exhibition tour and the opportunity to connect with RAAA Hall of Fame members. Visit zimmerli.rutgers.edu/events for all details.

“I met Alonzo at an event organized by the RAAA and I was immediately struck by his passion for making art and his ability to speak eloquently and directly about race, racism, and resilience in America,” said Donna Gustafson, the Zimmerli’s chief curator, who organized the exhibition. “As we have worked together on this exhibition, I’ve come to appreciate his talent, his ambitions, and his voice even more. His paintings reference history and contemporary life. They tell stories of young dreamers and sage elders. These paintings create a space in the museum for a meaningful encounter with beauty and optimism.”

Adams’s paintings are vividly realistic and imbued with meaning. These Eyes Have Seen is a closely cropped portrait of an elderly Black woman draped with the American flag. Her eyes are filled with tears, for she has witnessed life in an unequal and unfair America. While sadness overwhelms her, she is not cowed and we see her resilience as well as her tears. 2020 Vision, a painting in the collection of Nyema Tubman, uses the conceit of an eye chart to declare the strength of young Black men in America. Adams has faith in the young and paints them as strivers and dreamers who read, play basketball, and head into the storm with their eyes wide open.

Born in in Harlem, New York, and raised in Plainfield, New Jersey, Adams draws artistic inspiration from such artists as Charles White, Henry Ossawa Tanner, John Singer Sargent, Norman Rockwell, and Rembrandt. He earned his B.F.A. from Mason Gross School of the Arts in 1984 and later attended graduate school at the University of Pennsylvania. In 2004, Adams was one of the first inductees into the newly created Rutgers African-American Alumni Alliance Hall of Fame.

With more than 25 years as a professional artist, Adams has garnered numerous awards and been featured in such publications as Art Business News, Black Enterprise, Images Magazine, Upscale Magazine and ESPN Magazine. His work has been featured in solo exhibitions and private venues, including at Howard University, Novartis, Essence and Absolut. For more information about the artist, visit www.alonzoadams.com.

Alonzo Adams: A Griot’s Vision, organized by Donna Gustafson, Zimmerli chief curator, is on view from Sept. 13, 2023, to Feb. 25, 2024.

###