Derrick Adams Auction Record at Christies, KAWS Retrospective at the Brooklyn Museum

Derrick Adams 1970 - present

The work of Derrick Adams set a new auction record at Christie's earlier this month. His painting, Figure in the Urban Landscape 31, was auctioned at the Post-War to Present auction. The portrait of father and daughter was estimated to sell for $100,000-$150,000. The painting, made up of acrylic, graphite, ink, fabric on paper, grip tape and model cars on wood panel, sold for $250,000…a record for Adams' work.

 

Adams' work is currently on exhibit at the Rhona Hoffman Gallery in Chicago. The show is called The Last Resort, after an artists retreat that Adams has founded in his native Baltimore, and is scheduled to open in 2022.

 

 

The Brooklyn-based artist, whose works explore the Black experience in America, often focuses on the joyful aspects of leisure time with friends and family. The Vilebrequin swimwear label was inspired by Adams' work to ask him to design a fabric for a limited edition swim trunk design. Derrick Adams design was one of those chosen by New York Magazine to encourage people to vote in the 2020 election.

 

KAWS 1974 - present

When Brian Donnelly, the artist known as KAWS, moved from Jersey City to Brooklyn in the 1990s, he garnered public attention by transforming bus stop ads with his signature style. Since those early years, KAWS works have become some of the most recognized and collected by fans around the world.

 

The Brooklyn Museum was the first major venue to acquire his works for their permanent collection, so it's fitting for the museum to hold a retrospective of the work KAWS has done over the last twenty years.

 

 

KAWS has more than 3 million Instagram followers, who are eager to see his next painting, print, toy, sculpture or fashion collaboration. In 2019, his work set an auction record when one of his paintings, estimated to sell for $1 million, sold for $14.8 million.

 

KAWS: What Party will be on display at the Brooklyn Museum through September 5, 2021.

 

The Works of Derrick Adams and KAWS at Surovek Gallery

Please contact us if you would like more information about the works of Derrick Adams, KAWS or any of the other fine art at Surovek Gallery.

 


 

References:
Victoria L. Valentine. Auction Records: Paintings Derrick Adams and Jammie Holmes Establish New Benchmarks at Christie's, Works by Titus Kaphar and Henry Taylor Also Sold. Culture Type. March 12, 2021.
Angelica Villa. Records for Derrick Adams, Elaine de Kooning, and Jammie Holmes Set in Christie's $23 M. Contemporary Auction. Artnews. March 10, 2021.
Ross Dwyer. Derrick Adams' "The Last Resort" Exhibition Opens at Chicago's Rhona Hoffman Gallery. Hypebeast. February 21, 2021.
Dylan Kelly. These Swim Trunks Are Emblems of Black Excellence. Paper. March 12, 2021.
Working Not Working Magazine. 50 People & Companies Inspiring the Working Not Working Community Right Now. March 10, 2021.
Nadja Sayej. Kaws: behind the pop culture artist's Brooklyn retrospective. The Guardian. March 15, 2021.
Ben Davis. Why KAWS's Global Success May Well Be a Symptom of a Depressed Culture, Adrift in Nostalgia and Retail Therapy. artnet news. March 3, 2021.
Angelica Villa. The 10 Most Expensive KAWS Works Ever Sold at Auction. Artnews. March 1, 2021.

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