Adam Brent creates sculptural installations that combine architectural and organic elements to explore issues of nature, reflection, interiors and structure. He received his BFA from the Maryland Institute, College of Art in 1995 and his MFA in sculpture from Parsons The New School For Design in 2001. His work has been exhibited at such notable museums, institutions and galleries as The Islip Art Museum, The Bronx Museum for Contemporary Art, The Aldrich Museum For Contemporary Art, El Museo Del Barrio, The Mattatuck Museum, The New Museum’s Festival of Ideas, Aljira Center for Contemporary Art, Artists Space New Haven, Apex Art, Margaret Thatcher Projects, Gathering of The Tribes, Wave Hill, BRIC Rotunda, Momenta Gallery, The Bronx River Art Center, The New York Department of Transportation’s Urban Art Program, The New York Public Library, The 2012 Venice Architecture Biennale, The Center for Book Arts and several university galleries. Brent has a solo show in the fall of 2014 at Auxiliary Projects in Brooklyn, NY. Additionally, he has studied in notable residences such as Artists in the Marketplace at the Bronx Museum, Emerge at the Aljira Center for Contemporary Arts in Newark NJ and the DNA artist residency in Provincetown MA. Brent is also a principle-founding member of the BroLab Collective. BroLab will had its first major solo exhibition at Freight + Volume Gallery in New York in early 2014 and recently completed a 2-year installation for the Bronx Museum’s Lobby. Their first book of collaborative work was published in the spring of 2013 by Seton Hall University. Brent has received grants from The Greater New York Arts Development Fund as administered through the Brooklyn Arts Council and the New York Foundation for Contemporary Art and recently received grants from the Elizabeth Firestone Graham Foundation, Newark Arts Council, and the Puffin Foundation. His individual and collective work has received critical attention from the Village Voice, L Magazine, The NY Press, Art Critical, The New York Daily News, Architect Magazine, Architizer, Artsy, Art Observed, and the New York Times. Brent also sits on the New York City Department of Transportation’s Art Advisory Committee, is a founding member of Food Design North America, and currently serves as Program Director; The BFA IN Integrated Design at Parsons The New School for Design.
EDUCATION
2001 MFA, Parsons School of Design, New York, NY
1995 BFA, Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD
SOLO & TWO PERSON EXIBITIONS
2019 Slag Gallery, Project Room, Hyper Prismatic Mesh, Brooklyn, NY
2018 Thompson Giroux, Heroic Faces, Chatham, NY
2016 Slag Gallery, No Rain, No Rainbows, Brooklyn, NY
2016 Volta NY, Pier 92, Slag Gallery presents Adam Brent (Booth C3), New York, NY
2014 Joyce Goldstein, Each One’s A Victory, Chatham, NY
2014 Auxiliary Projects, Good Hill Drift, Green Point, NY
2013 Artspace, Thread, New Haven, CT
2011 Infusion Gallery, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Make Your Self at Home, Brooklyn, NY
2010 Humanities Gallery, Beyond The Kitchen The Ceiling Soared, Long Island University, Brooklyn, NY
2008 Wave Hill, Sun Porch, The Ballad of Crook Horn Rd, Wave Hill, Bronx, NY
2007 The Korn Gallery, Adam Brent: Recent Sculpture, Drew University, NJ
2006 Gathering of Tribes Gallery, Replanting The Community Garden, Adam Brent and William Myers, New York, NY, (Michael Tong, Curator)
2004 Art Lot, Cooked Green, Brooklyn NY
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2019 Deering Estate, Tension and Suspension, Bronx, New York, (Ryan Roa, Curator)
2017 Wave Hill, Call and Response, Bronx, New York
2016 Pulse Contemporary Art Fair, Slag Gallery Exhibitor, Miami, FL
2016 DNA Gallery, DNA Residency Exhibition, Provincetown, MA
2016 Thompson Giroux, Blue Sky, Chatham, NY
2016 Kansas City Art Institute, #F*nked! In conjunction with the 50th Anniversary NCECA conference, Kansas City, MO, (Susie Silbert and Anna Walker, Curators)
2016 Wave Hill Public Garden and Cultural Center, Glyndor Gallery, Not So Still Life, Bronx, NY
2016 Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning, Jamaica Flux, Workspaces and Windows, Queens, NY,
2015 Art Market Hamptons, Habitats, Bridge Hampton, NY, (Chantel Foretich Curator),
2015 Thompson Giroux, Fusionera, Chatham, NY
2015 Edward Hopper House, Behind Doors and Through Windows: Reflections on Contemporary Domestic Life, Nyack, NY
2015 Mattatuck Museum, Favorites from the Museum Collection, Waterbury, CT
2015 Thompson Giroux, En Masse, Chatham, NY
2014 DNA Gallery, Residency Exhibition, Provincetown, MA
2013 Gallery Bergen, The Imperative of Teaching, Bergen Community College, NJ (Alieen Wilson and Tara Kopp, Curators)
2012 Skylight Gallery, Amplify Action: Sustainability through the Arts, Brooklyn, NY
2012 Big and Small Casual, Small Sculpture, LIC, NY, (Kate Teale, Curator)
2011 Rush Arts Gallery, Curate NYC, Chelsea, NY
2011 Pingry School, Scapes, Martinsville, NJ
2011 BRIC Rotunda Gallery, Neo Nomads: What Travels With You, Brooklyn, NY, (Baseera Khan, Aileen Wilson and Anne Laure Fayard, Curators [w/catalog])
2010 Carriage House, Islip Art Museum, Projects ’10, Islip, NY (W/catalog)
2009 Flux Factory, House Broken, Inaugural Exhibition Queens, NY (W/catalog)
2009 Bronx Museum of the Arts, Living and Dreaming: Aim 29, Bronx, NY (Micaela Giovannotti, Curator [w/catalog])
2009 Aldrich Museum, Art Daze, Ridgefield, CT
2009 Apexart, I can’t get no satisfaction: Contemporary Views on The Everyday, NY, NY (w/catalog)
2008 Hungarian Cultural Center, Flux Factory Auction, Soho, NY
2007 Flux Factory, New York, New York, New York, Queens, NY, (Melanie Cohn, Curator)
2007 Shore Institute of Contemporary Art, Noah’s Ark, Long Branch, NJ
2007 Emergency Arts Gallery, Adam Brent, Kathryn Linch and Melissa Marks, Chelsea, NY
2007 English Kills Art Gallery, Wood, Bushwick, NY
2006 Aljira Center for Contemporary Art, Emerge 7, Newark, NJ
2006 Margaret Thatcher Projects, Certain People I know, NY, NY, (Tommy Everett, Curator)
2005 Branchville Gallery, Equally Vulnerable, Ridgefield, CT, (Jessica Hough, Curator)
2005 Branchville Gallery, NORM(L),Ridgefield, CT
2004 Artist Space, Strangely Familiar, New York, NY, (Titia Hulst, Curator)
2004 Art Basel Miami Beach, Miami Connections II, The Yard @ Casa Lin, Miami, FL
2004 Tastes Like Chicken Art Space, Art of the Neighborhood, Brooklyn, NY
2004 Visciglia Gallery, Borderlands, Caldwell, NJ
COLLABORATIVE WORK
2015 Artscape (Commissioned Anchor Project), BroLab, Misty Mountain Royals, Baltimore, MD
2015 30 Rock, BroLab, Home Improvement, Brooklyn, NY (Leslie Heller and Deborah Brown, Curators)
2014 Governors Island, BroLab, Spontaneous Interventions, New York, NY (Cathy Lang Ho, Curator)
2014 Nurture Art, BroLab, Multiplicity, New York, NY (Marco Antonini, Curator)
2014 Mattatuck Museum, BroLab, Solo Exhibition, Bevel and Rub, Waterbury, CT
2014 El Museo Del Barrio, Museum Starter Kit, BroLab, New York, NY
2014 Nurture Art, Multiplicity, BroLab, Brooklyn, NY
2014 Mattatuck Museum, Bevel and Rub, BroLab, Waterbury, CT
2014 Freight + Volume, Dead Lift, BroLab, New York, NY
2014 Governors Island, Spontaneous Interventions, BroLab, Governors Island, NY
2014 Collective Design Fair, Interior Faire, BroLab, New York, NY
2013 Untitled Art Fiar, Moses Transpo, Miami, FL
2013 Korean Art Fiar, BroLab, Seoul Korea, NY
2012 Bronx Museum, Quater Horse, Bronx, NY
2013 Chicago Cultural Center, Spontaneous Interventions Chicago, IL
2013 Center for Book Arts, Brother Can You Spare a Stack, NY, NY
2012 Venice Architecture Biennale, Spontaneous Interventions, US Pavilion, Venice, Italy
2012 Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning, The Making Of Humps and Bumps, Queens, NY
2012 NYC DOT Presents, Summer Streets, New York, NY
2012 Mott Haven Public Library, Piazza Gratissima, Bronx, NY
2012 Newark Open Doors, Newark Arts Council, Stack & Rack, Newark, NJ
2012 Bogart Salon, Adrift, Brooklyn, NY
2011 Flux Factory, Congress of the Collectives, Queens, NY
2011 Bushwick SITE Fest, Habeas Corpus, Brooklyn, NY (Jeanne Brasile, curator)
2011 3rd Ward Bushwick SITE Fest, Hub Show, Brooklyn, NY
2011 Urban Festival Grid Scenes, NY, NY
2011 New Museum, Festival of Ideas for a New City, New York, NY
2010 Art in Odd Places, Pump 14, NY, NY
2003 Brewster Project, T-house, Brewster, NY
LECTURES AND PRESENTATIONS
2015 Jamaica Center For Arts and Learning, Adam Brent, Queens, NY
2014 Auxiliary Projects, Adam Brent, Artist Talk, Brooklyn, NY
2014 Brooklyn Arts Council, Traci Talasco, Adam Brent, Kristen Nelsen, Brooklyn, NY
2013 El Museo del Barrio Source Material, New York, NY
2013 Zimmeri Museum, BroLab @ Slide Jam, Princeton, NJ
2013 Untitled Art Fair, Integral Spaces hosted by BroLab, Miami FL
2013 Untitled Art Fair, Curating Social Practices hosted by BroLab, Miami FL
2013 Untitled Art Fair, Art Futures hosted by BroLab, Miami FL
2013 Bronx Museum, 1040 Lounge Artist Spotlight with BroLab, Bronx, NY
2013 Wesleyan University, New York Arts Program, Artist Talk, New York, NY
2013 Gallery Affero, BroLab Artist Panel, Newark, NJ
2011 Tactical Urbanism Salon, Organized by Do-Tank Flux Factory, BroLab Collective, Queens, NY
2011 Collaborative Presentation, Jamaica Center for the Arts, BroLab Collective, Jamaica, NY
2011 Conversation with Mary Miss and Adam Brent, Laboratory Lecture Series, Parsons The New School For Design
2010 Judicial Review w/ Bryan Zanisnik, Panelists Include: Steven Lam, Artist and Associate Dean at The Cooper Union, Adam Brent, Artist and Assistant Professor at Parsons School The New School For Design, Franklin Boyd, Lawyer, Jonathan Melber, Author & Lawyer, Winkleman Gallery, NY, NY
2008 Sun Room Artist Talk, Wave Hill, Bronx NY
2007 Visiting Artist and Lecturer, Maryland Institute, College of Art
2007 Visiting Artist and Lecturer: Senior Thesis, Drew University, Fine Arts Department
2006 Visiting Artist and Lecturer: Graduate Thesis Maryland Institute, College of Art
2006 Visiting Artist and Lecturer: Senior Thesis, Maryland Institute, College of Art
2006 Visiting Artist and Lecturer Drew University, Fine Arts Department
HONORS
2016 DNA Resident Artist, Provincetown, MA
2014 DNA Resident Artist, Provincetown, MA
2012 Grantee, Elizabeth Firestone Graham Foundation, BroLab Collective
2011 Grantee, Greater New York Arts Development Fund of the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs as administered from the Brooklyn Arts Council
2009 Artist in the Market Place Grantee, Bronx Museum of the Arts, Bronx, NY Wave Hill Sun Room Competition, Wave Hill, Bronx, NY
2008 Artists Space, Artists Space’s Irving Sandler Artist File Web Space Artist
2007 Nominee, 2007 Visual Artist Grant Award, The Rema Hort Mann Foundation
2005 Immediate needs Grantee, New York Foundation For Contemporary Art
2005 Emerge 7 Fellowship, Aljira Center for Contemporary Art, Newark, NJ
2001 Nomination, Emerging Visual Artist, Joan Mitchell Foundation
COLLECTIONS
The Private Collection of David Howe, NY, NY
Mattatuck Museum, Waterbury, CT
The Private Collection of Mary Lou Cohalan, NY, NY
Flux Factory, Queens, NY
The Private Collection of Lin Lougheed, Miami, Florida & NY, NY
New School Collection, New York, NY
The Private Collection of Katherine Parker, Bridge Hampton, NY
PRESS - D’Agostino, Paul, “Talking Nourishment”, Brooklyn Magazine, October 17th, 2016 -Shen, Danni, “Small Collisions: An Interview with Adam Brent”, Wave Hill Blog, June, 29th, 2016 -D’Agostino, Paul, “Armory Week: A Pile of Great”, Brooklyn Magazine, March 11th, 2016 -Moller, Sabrina, “10 Emerging Artists to Watch at Volta”, Art and Signature, March 6th, 2016 – Franciotti, Jennifer, Water will be the dominant theme for Artscape, WBALTV, July 16th, 2015 – Kessler, Charles, “Greenpoint Open Studios Plus”, Left Bank Art Blog, October 10th, 2014 – “Artist Collective BroLab’s Uplifting Public Art”, Artsy Editorial, Feb 19. 2014 – McKnight, Jenna M. “Biennale Bulletin: Here We Come Venice!”, Architzer, August 21st, 2012 – - “Zeiger, Mimi, “Get Local” Architect the Magazine of the American Institute of Architects, August 13th, 2012 - “Spontaneous Interventions #1 to #16”, Architect the Magazine of the American Institute of Architects, August 9th, 2012 - Pinto, Fausto Giovanniy, “A European –Style Plaza Opens in Mott Haven, Mott Haven Herald, July 17th, 2012 - Chinese, Vera, “BroLab art project in Jamaica”, NY Daily News, April, 19th, 2012 - Bockmann, Rich, “Jamaica Art Peeks Curiosity”, Times Ledger, May 10th, 2012 - Samuels Tanyanika, “New ‘piazza’ Coming to Mott Haven Library”, NY Daily News, March 29th, 2012 - Costella, AnnMarie. “Sit on it! New art will serve purpose” Queens Chronicle, Mar 29 - Samuels, Tanyanika, “Art group builds ‘Thrust of Sorrows’ catapult to relieve burdens in new show”, NY Daily News, September 20th, 2011 - Danielle Balbi, “Public Displays of Performance”, The New School Free Press, Wednesday, October 19th, 2011 - “Inside Casa Lin’s Quirky Art Jungle”, Ocean Drive Magazine, September Issue, 2011 - Cohen, David, “In the Spirit of a World Fair, but Greener: The New Museum’s Festival of Ideas for the New City”, Art Critical May, 3rd, 2011 - Rapkins, Rochana, “Last Chance to See Neo-Nomads”, The New York Times, The Local, February 24th, 2011 - Lorraine, Marian, Why are these men carrying water L-magazine blog, October 8th 2010 - Tran, Pauline, “Finding Art in Odd Places”, New York Press, Oct 1st, 2010 - Varlese, Erica, “Parsons Adam Brent Explores Relationships Among Nature, Architecture and Humanity”, The Acorn, September 14th, 2007 - Graeber, Laurel, “Spare Times”, The New York Times, October 3rd, 2008 - Cohen, David and Walty, Jenny “The Seed Project” Artworld Digest, March 2007 - Cotter, Holland, “Replanting the Community Garden” The New York Times, December 29th, 2006 - Pareles, Marissa. “Close-Up on the Columbia Street Waterfront District” The Village Voice, July 1st, 2004
I create large and small sculptures that combine technology, raw materials, and found objects that explore the sentiment found in all things. With all of my work, it is important that the viewer experiences the surrounding space as impacted by color, visual depth of field, the impact of scale and a direct use of choice materials.
I tend to make work that has an underlying theme of domesticity, place and memory. When I print plastic objects that are either drawn or scanned, weave rag rugs, carve, or care for living plants, I am assembling these components into larger domestic or psychological portraits that loosely develop until each work feels complete.
Spanning from the very small objects to large-scale installations and collapsible structures, each work carries the balance between a story, form, space and material.