Adrian Armstrong's (b.1990 Omaha, Nebraska) multidisciplinary practice, which encompasses drawing, painting, installation, and sound, documents the contemporary Black experiences in the United States. He is deeply interested in questions of how Black experiences intersect with the history of photography, portraiture, and collage.
Using friends, family members, and acquaintances as subjects, Armstrong’s single and multi-figural works probe the influence of place and popular culture on the formation of self-image, community, connection, tenderness, and love–both platonic and romantic. More specifically, he is interested in the complex ways race informs how we assign value to and interact in the spaces we occupy.
Armstrong draws heavily on his own identity politics and lived experiences to depict the narratives of Black life. Nested in intimate and poignant settings, his figures often embody a range of psychological states, including joy, happiness, introspection, and dysphoria. Armstrong’s works seek to inspire new ways of looking at the familiar. Ultimately, Armstrong’s work is an ongoing examination into the complexities of Black identity and representation.
2022: Big Medium, “There Are Black People In Nebraska?”, Solo Show, October 2022, Austin, TX
2022: NYC Culture Club, “Untitled”, Curated by Good Black Art/Artsy, Group Exhibition, September 2022
2021: House of Crowns, Phillip’s Auction House, Group Show, December 2021, New York, New York (Curated by Anwarii Musa and Storm Ascher)
2021: Château Ciroc, Group show (Art Basel), December 2021, Miami, FL (Curated by Antoine Girard)
2021: Chili Art Projects/Noho Studios, Awakening, Group Show, September 2021, London
2022: The Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition (Smithsonian) (Semifinalist), Washington D.C.
2021: The 2021 Texas Biennial (Group Exhibition), Fall 2021, Austin, TX
2021: The University of Texas - Austin Black Studies Department, “With new eyes…” (Solo Show), January - May 2021, Austin, TX
2020: The Louise Hopkins Underwood Center for the Arts, Highs and Lo-fi’s (Solo Show), February - April 2020, Lubbock, TX
2020: Presa House Gallery, Highs and Lo-fi’s (Solo Show), January - February 2020, San Antonio, TX
2019: Co-lab Projects, Highs and Lo-fi’s (Solo Show), August - September 2019, Austin, TX
2019: Northern-Southern - LikesNess, (Group Exhibition) - Adrian Armstrong, Dawn Okoro, Jean Smith, Laura Lit, Ryan Sandison Montgomery, Saul Jerome, San Juan), May - July 2019
2018: Six Square, - EAST Austin Studio Tour (Sponsored by Big Medium) - November 2018, Austin, TX
2017: Washington Carver Museum - EAST Austin Studio Tour (Sponsored by Big Medium, Capital View, Six Square, Kenny Durham’s Backyard, and the Carver Museum and Cultural Center) - November 2017, Austin, TX
2015: Constellation Studios, Lincoln, NE, 2015, “Constellation Members Show” (Curator Karen Kunc)
2015: Lux Art Gallery, Lincoln, NE, 2015, “About Human” (Curator Craig Roper)
2014: Eisentrager Howard Gallery, Lincoln, NE, 2014 Nebraska National Competition
2014: Eisentrager Howard Gallery, Lincoln, NE, 2014 Senior Capstone Exhibition
2014: Dan and Barbara Howard Creative Achievement and the Francis William Vreeland Scholarship Competition , Lincoln, NE, 2014 (Faculty Juried)
2014: Eisentrager Howard Gallery, Lincoln, NE, 27th Annual Undergraduate Studio Art Competition, 2014 (Juror Amanda Smith)
2014: El Minia University, Cairo, Egypt, 3rd Student International Small Print Show – SIPS14. (Curator Dr. Wael Sabour)
2013: Soo Visual Arts Center, Minneapolis, MN, Untitled 10 Exhibition, 2013 (Jurors Jennifer Phelps and Heid E. Erdrich)
2013: Eisentrager Howard Gallery, Lincoln, NE. Nebraska National Collegiate Juried Art Exhibition, 2013 (Jurors JoAnne Carson and Todd Slaughter)
2013: Eisentrager Howard Gallery, Lincoln, NE, 26th Annual Undergraduate Studio Art Competition, 2013 (Juror Karin Campbell, Curator of Contemporary Art, Joslyn Art Museum)
Residencies
2021: Jerry Manson Artist in Residence, Flatbed Press (Austin), December 2021 - February 2022
2021: Small Black Museum Artist Residency, The Carver Museum (Austin), March 2021 - May 2021
2019: Big Medium Residency, LINE hotel (Austin), September 5 - October 15, 2019