CHRISTOPHER ADAMS: Biomorphic Moments - ceramics

Christopher Adams explores biomorphic ceramic forms that suggest tendrils, growths, and evolving systems, combining organic imagery with experimental glazing and structure.

New York, NY — Following a recent Art in Embassies commission for the American Embassy in Mexico City, Garvey|Simon presents Christopher Adams: Biomorphic Moments, an installation of new wall-mounted ceramic sculptures. Drawing on the artist's background in biology, zoology, and medicine, the exhibition fills the gallery with hand-built biomorphic forms that evoke growth, mutation, and accumulation rather than individual specimens. Composed of distinct “moments,” the works unfold as modular systems built from numerous components suggesting continual evolution. Christopher Adams creates sculptures that play on biological concepts, specifically adaptive radiation, whereby a pioneering organism enters an untapped environment and differentiates rapidly without straying far from its original form. His sculptures suggest varieties of plants and creatures, though not specific organisms. Many works evoke plant life, with leafy tendrils and frayed edges, while underlying structures often hint at the ordered systems of sacred geometry—subtle symmetries and repeating forms that suggest a deeper, almost cosmological logic embedded within organic growth. Adams merges his understanding of biology with ceramic surface to create ever-evolving finishes. A sense of play is apparent (what he calls promiscuous glazing), as he manipulates color and texture in his ceramic menagerie. ABOUT THE ARTIST Christopher Adams first encountered ceramics in high school, an early introduction that would later evolve into the abstracted biomorphic forms that define his practice. Each body of work grows from an evolutionary process parallel to the science that informs his work. By recombining forms and pushing glazing beyond traditional ceramic techniques, he has created sculptures that breathe new life into an ancient medium. Creeping tendrils, twisted leaves, cartilaginous growths, and knotted rock shapes inhabit the walls with a primordial presence. Adams made his public debut at the Scope New York art fair in March 2006 to rave reviews and a sold-out booth. Reviewing the fair, Ken Johnson of The New York Times described the sculptures as: “wonderfully delicate, spiky objects that look like specimens of underwater flora and fauna from another planet.” Adams’s work is found in numerous collections, including the Museum of Art and Design, New York, Collection of Beth Rudin DeWoody, and the Collection of the American Embassy in Mexico City. Christopher Adams was born in Medford, MA. He graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College, majoring in organismic and evolutionary biology, all the while keeping a working art studio through their Ceramics Department. In 2004 he graduated from the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. This is Adams’s sixth solo show in New York and his second with Garvey|Simon Gallery. For more information or high-resolution images, please contact Elizabeth Garvey at 917-796-2146 or liz@garveysimon.com.

What to expect:
Sculpture, Installation