BOSTON — A major exhibition of work by artist Derrick Adams opened at the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston in 2026, presenting paintings, sculptures, collages, videos and other works that explore contemporary Black American life and culture. The exhibition, titled “Derrick Adams: View Master,” opened on April 16 and is scheduled to remain on view through September 7, 2026, according to the museum.
The exhibition is Adams’ first mid-career museum survey and features more than 100 works spanning about two decades of his multidisciplinary practice, the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston said. The museum said the presentation includes works from Adams’ personal archive as well as new works created for the exhibition.
Adams, a Brooklyn-based artist born in Baltimore, has developed a practice across painting, sculpture, collage, performance, video and public art projects, according to the museum. His work often focuses on everyday experiences, including leisure, creativity and representation within Black communities.
On Monday, museum officials said the exhibition was organized to show the range of Adams’ artistic approach and his interest in depicting ordinary moments within broader cultural contexts. ICA/Boston Director Nora Burnett Abrams said the exhibition highlights “the pursuit of happiness in America” through Adams’ work, according to the museum.
The exhibition includes Adams’ use of geometric forms, patterns and layered compositions, which the museum said create images centered on contemporary Black experiences. Curators Dexter Wimberly and Tessa Bachi Haas said Adams’ work examines “the beauty and strength” of everyday life through visual storytelling, according to the exhibition’s organizers.
The show also extends beyond the museum galleries with a large-scale installation on the exterior of the ICA building. The museum said the facade project reinterprets television color bars, a visual reference Adams has incorporated into his work to explore themes connected to Black television history and media representation.
Adams said television has influenced his artistic practice. “Television was my first classroom,” Adams said in a statement released by the museum, explaining that he has used color bars in his work since 2014 to explore changes in Black television from the 1970s through the 1990s.
The exhibition follows previous projects by Adams that have examined themes of identity, culture and representation. His work is held in collections including the Brooklyn Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art, according to the artist and museum information.
As of Sunday, the exhibition remained open at the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston. Museum officials said the show is expected to travel to the Queens Museum in New York after its Boston presentation.
