Zachary Adams
b. 1987; San Francisco ∙ CE artist since 2010
Zachary Adams mixes text and prose with illustrated characters and animals to create delightful scenes. Often there is a theme involved, like a herd of cows who like various foods, or bees that are named after teachers at CE. Adams’ often provides context for the scene in his text. Most of these descriptions are compliments like, “Boo the dog is so beautiful.”
Adams also creates handwritten love letters to real and imagined people, scrawling them across a wash of color, often with geometric shapes. Adams' conjures romance through phrasing ranging from the poetic – "Your eyes shine like the moon" – to the practical, almost mundane – "We could shop for food and cook pasta." In 2011 and 2012, Adams creates a series of love letters on brown paper bags, giving the letters a more intimate yet fleeting quality. One of these brown paper love letters was reproduced as a greeting card, available here.
Select Exhibitions & Projects
2019
Big Bellies, Jewish Community Center, San Francisco, CA
Bitchin', Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA
2016
Tabula Rasa, Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA
2015
Tree of Life, Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA
2014
Shoerageous, Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA
A Curious Menagerie, Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA
2013
West Coasts, Museum of La Creation Franche, Bègles, France
2012
Autism event, Montalvo Arts, San Jose, CA
Fabulous, Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA
2011
Hands on Clay, Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA
2010
Where Are We?, Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA
Five Zebras by Zachary Adams, 2023
marker and watercolor on paper, 22.25 x 30 inches
(0391-16)