Longlati Foundation presents Marina Adams’ debut institutional solo exhibition in Asia, In the Garden of My Memory, featuring 11 large-scale acrylic and watercolor paintings and four scroll intaglio monoprints on paper inspired by Chinese folded books.

Poetry is a crucial component of Adams’ artistic practice, intertwining language and painting, opening a pathway through its ineffable sensory experience. In the Garden of My Memory is derived from Ted Berrigan’s poem “Tambourine Life.” Perhaps this phrase struck Adams in her studio on a summer afternoon and leapt off the page. Here, it functions as a cryptic invitation, inviting viewers to journey through the artist’s vibrant realm of memories constructed through colors. Like poetry, Adams’ artworks don’t provide specific imagery or narratives, yet they vividly convey her perspectives and contemplation of the world.

Impressions drawn from nature, music, fabrics, architecture and literature are transformed into dynamic colors, humming with the physical resonance of individual existence through the canvas as if its structure were a kind of grammar, and light and shadow serve as its tones. These pieces traverse the boundaries of diverse logical fields, directly reaching the channels of individual senses.

Adams’ creations should be understood as abstract expressionism within the realm of color field painting. On the one hand, she follows the tradition of color field painting, emphasizing the ontological superiority of overall form and color in the painting, thereby discarding the once-prominent symbols and rhetoric. On the other hand, distinct from the typical serenity and meticulousness of color field paintings, she consistently infuses her colors with spiritual energy, imbuing her paintings with vitality. They undoubtedly emanate from the artist’s bodily rhythm, interpreted into live abstractions through brushes and pigments.

Adams earned degrees from Tyler School of Art, Temple University, Philadelphia, and Columbia University in New York. She is the recipient of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship (2016) and the Award of Merit Medal for Painting from the American Academy of Arts and Letters (2018). She has participated in various solo and group exhibitions, including the Parrish Art Museum, Water Mill, New York (2021), Modern Art Museum, Fort Worth (2020), Camden Arts Centre, London (2016) and CUE Art Foundation, New York (2008). Marina Adams’ work is in the collections of the MoMA, New York, the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Texas, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and the Longlati Foundation, Shanghai. She lives and works in New York, Bridgehampton, Long Island and Parma in Italy.

Co-founded by David Su and Zihao Chen in 2017, Longlati Foundation is a non-profit organization registered in Hong Kong. It aims to contribute to the development of contemporary art in its diversity.

Curated by Jenny Chen Jiaying, In the Garden of My Memory runs from 14 September to 25 October on the third floor of Longlati Foundation, 117 Hong Kong Road, Huangpu District, Shanghai, China.