"I’m fine with being misunderstood. You can see it in my work – these fields of stuttering language. It’s a refusal, but it’s an invitation at the same time."
The Father of Black Dada
The words ‘Black Dada’ are frequently emblazoned across Adam Pendleton’s works. Named for the Amiri Baraka poem Black Dada Nihilismus, Pendleton borrowed the term to describe his artistic practice. European Dada was a rejection of mainstream aesthetics in the aftermath of World War I in favour of art that embraced irrationality and protest. Although Black Dada incorporates elements of this movement, such as collage, the world that Pendleton responds to requires new visual codes. Working across film, painting and performance, he presents an artistic world full of juxtaposition and daring abstra...
Bio
Adam Pendleton (he/him) was born in 1984 in Richmond, Virginia. He lives and works in New York City.
The Black Dada Reader
In 2017 Adam published The Black Dada Reader. It originated as an experimental guide for him to use in the studio, but evolved into an important reference point for understanding his practice.
Politics
“My work doesn’t have a political agenda, doesn’t propose policy solutions, but it does acknowledge a political reality.”
