The Latest News, Events and Happenings...
JJ was approached by Mumford & Sons to create a unique piece of artwork to celebrate their recent 2016 tour of South Africa, the piece of art will be on display at Lights of Soho gallery in London from June 30th - 9th July and will also be made available as a short run limited edition print. Watch this space, more details on the free event below.
JJ Adams was commissioned to create artwork for Radio 1 favourite and club DJ Jaguar Skills with his new EP titled "Ready to Rock". The artwork will also be available as a very limited edition print. See image below. Link to Jag Skills website for more info
JJ visits New York and completes a new private commission which is released as a limited edition print.
While many were surprised by the new works and fresh style, JJ insisted that it's not a new direction altogether with his work but just a change of scenery, something fresh that he had been wanting to do for a while. After the collection was released a few pointed out that it may have been inspired by another artist who had done something similar with X-rays as a medium a few years ago, however JJ hadn't come across his work before and said "This collection stems from me sitting in the dentist one day and wondering what could be done with X-rays as a medium and how to experiment with that style, I took seven of my favourite toys from my toy cabinet and proceeded to see what I could come up with."
The original pieces are expertly crafted illuminated glass lightboxes with the edging made from a single piece of metal and no join.
The prints are limited to 45 Editions of each.
See the video of the exhibition and unveiling here:
Photos from the evening at Bang & Olufsen.
Twelve leading artists have created unique artworks, each featuring a 1:18 scale replica of the iconic Rolls-Royce Ghost, for a one-of-a-kind collection. These spectacular artworks, donated by some of the biggest names in contemporary art, will be on show from 20-25 May 2015 at Rolls-Royce Motor Cars London in Berkeley Square to raise valuable funds for Breast Cancer Care.
The model motor car has been transformed to create an extraordinary collection of one-off art pieces, created by artists including: Maggi Hambling, Richard Wentworth, Gavin Turk, Mark Wallinger, JJ Adams, Sam Taylor-Johnson, Charming Baker, Natasha Law, Angela Palmer, Andrew Salgado, Stuart Semple and Yinka Shonibare.
Richard Carter, Director of Communications, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars commented, “This revered group of contemporary artists use Rolls-Royce Ghost models to create thought provoking works, all of which will be auctioned to raise funds for Breast Cancer Care. This has been an exhilarating collaboration which promises to raise valuable funds for a very worthy cause.”
The Auction Preview will take place from 20-25 May 2015 at the Rolls-Royce Motor Cars showroom in Berkeley Square. Opening times Monday to Friday 09:00 – 18:00, Saturday10:00 – 16:00, Sunday 11:00 – 17:00. The collaboration will conclude with a private auction at the Royal Automobile Club on 30 June 2015.
The full list of artists who have donated their work to Breast Cancer Care for the project include:
JJ Adams, Charming Baker, Maggi Hambling, Natasha Law, Angela Palmer, Andrew Salgado, Stuart Semple, Yinka Shonibare, Sam Taylor-Johnson, Gavin Turk, Mark Wallinger and Richard Wentworth.
The exhibition will take place from 19-25 May at the Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Showroom in Berkeley Square and will conclude with a private auction at the Royal Automobile Club on 30 June.
At the Modern & Contemporary Prints auction at Bloomsbury on March 26th, a rare sole artwork by a rising British artist sat alongside works by some of the greatest artists of the 20th century. With prints on sale from the likes of Henri Matisse, L.S. Lowry, Marc Chagall, Dali and Picasso; the auction read like an art history exam pamphlet.
With a strong presence of Banksy artworks available toward the end, it was left to another phenomenal Brit to carry the baton and lead the bidders into the 21st century where all eyes were focused on lot number 280: A coloured Princess Diana by JJ Adams.
Eventually, once the bidding ceased and the hammer dropped, the Diana sold for £3,500. A hugely respectable figure that outshone the final prices on rival works by Banksy, Picasso and Chagall.
Two days later at midday JJ Adams launched his Spring collection which caused a frenzy in galleries across the country; with collectors and admirers queuing from the early hours for his public appearance in Brighton. By 1pm the entire portfolio was sold out from the studio. The aftermath confirming beyond all doubt to the art establishment that a new star had arrived!
A signed five colour hand pulled screenprint will be available free to the first 25 people attending each of the five gallery shows around the launch of JJ's spring 2015.
PLEASE CONTACT THE INDIVIDUAL GALLERIES TO FIND OUT MORE.
JJ Adams will be releasing a new body of work with his 2015 Spring Collection on the 28th of March at Midday. Confirmed gallery events and exhibitions JJ will be attending around this time:
George Thornton, owner of George Thornton Art Gallery in Nottingham writes about why he considers JJ Adams to be the next big thing.
This exciting young artist is touted as being the Next Big Thing on the British art scene. With his challenge to the heart of British cultural values – members of the Royal family displayed with full sleeve tattoos, iconic buildings such as Buckingham Palace or the Palace of Westminster depicted defaced by graffiti, Adams strikes at the heart of our cultural consciousness with his work.
In the same way that Banksy became the art world’s darling, filling the vacuum left by the end of the love affair with the YBAs, Adams is making a name for himself, aided by Wishbone Publishing, with his phenomenal output. Born in Plymouth, Adams was raised in South Africa, remaining there until the end of the apartheid era when he returned to these shores with the aim of becoming a tattoo artist. Little wonder then that his obsession with body art spills over into his work, evidenced in his ‘Tattoo Series’ where icons of royalty, music and the silver screen are depicted with awesome full sleeve and knuckle tattoos. The ubiquity of the tattoo in mainstream culture must play a part in his appeal to the mainstream art audience, but there is more to his art than purely capitalising on a social trend. His interest in printing and in graphic design – honed when working in the South West as a printer whilst experimenting with art in his spare time – are evident in the stylised way much of his work is presented. Combining media such as printing, collage, spray paint, screen prints and hand painted acrylics, his work has attracted attention from Christie’s, Rolls Royce, Vogue and GQ magazines with its rawness, energy and passion, but also with its accessibility and broad subject appeal.
But, like Banksy, Adams is certainly not a mainstream fine artist, and similarly, much of his work remains true to the roots of his style and influences. Where Banksy’s popularity came from the street through recognition of his graffiti and its subsequent elevation to ‘art’, Adams work is equally accessible and most importantly recognisable in its representation of things ‘normal’ that have been given Adams’ treatment which, in challenging their orthodoxy, cause the audience to consider their own response to these significant cultural icons. However, being able to picture Buckingham Palace with graffitied gate posts somehow appeals to the British sense of humour and perhaps more importantly makes the audience question why the imagery is such a visual shock. To have the artistic vision to produce works that speaks on such an accessible level to the man in the street and yet which so cleverly strikes at the heart of our culture is evidence of Adams’ skill and gives a big clue as to why his work is generating such excitement in the art – and wider – community. Fundamentally this is what makes JJ Adams so popular and undeniably an artist to invest in!
read the full article here: https://georgethorntonart.wordpress.com/2015/01/30/what-makes-the-artist-jj-adams-so-popular/
A New print by the artist. 195 Editions on Hahnemuhle paper. Available from Galleries across the UK.
