Mariane Ibrahim is pleased to present the work of Derrick Adams (b. 1970, Baltimore, Maryland; lives and works in Brooklyn, New York), a multidisciplinary artist whose practice celebrates and expands the dialogue around contemporary Black life and culture. This new collaboration will begin with Adams’s first solo exhibition at Mariane Ibrahim in Mexico City, opening during the city’s Art Week in February 2027. The exhibition also marks the beginning of a dialogue between the artist and Mexico, a country whose cultural and artistic histories have long intrigued him.
"A close admirer for years, Derrick Adams has made work that celebrates Black life in its fullness. Centering Black aesthetics, leisure, and joy, he depicts moments of rest, pleasure, and self-possession rather than struggle alone. In this upcoming exhibition, he pays homage to the artists—both contemporaries and predecessors—who have informed his visual language from a creative or political perspective. We’re honored to welcome his work into our space." – Mariane Ibrahim
At the heart of Adams’s practice is the conviction that pleasure can be subversive. Through vibrant colors and playful compositions, his works invite viewers into narratives that gradually reveal their complexity. Visual pleasure becomes a point of entry, a means of engaging audiences in deeper questions about representation, cultural memory, and the histories that shape our understanding of art.
“Knowing Mariane as a friend and colleague for over 15 years, I am so happy to finally be working on this exhibition together – my first solo in the region and the beginning of an exciting collaboration! ” - Derrick Adams
For his exhibition in Mexico City, Adams turns his attention to material culture and art history. Moving freely across periods and disciplines, he assumes the role of both time traveler and visual art historian, bringing together objects and figures that have shaped his artistic imagination. Building on a visual language developed throughout his career, Adams places works associated with the museum canon alongside icons of popular design, collapsing conventional distinctions between fine art and everyday objects. Sculptures by Harlem Renaissance artist Richmond Barthé enter into dialogue with objects such as the View-Master, whose design was refined by pioneering African American industrial designer Charles Harrison. Through these unexpected encounters, Adams proposes an alternative reading of cultural history, one in which artistic achievement, popular imagination, and overlooked contributions occupy the same space.
Among the artists who inhabit these new works is Elizabeth Catlett (1915–2012), whose life and practice bridged the United States and Mexico for more than six decades. Her sculptures appear within Adams’s compositions, creating a connection between his artistic universe and the country that Catlett made her home. The exhibition also establishes a dialogue with Mariane Ibrahim’s recent announcement of the representation of the Estate of Elizabeth Catlett. By bringing these works to Mexico City, Adams pays tribute to an artist who has inspired him, returning her imagery to the place where much of her artistic legacy took shape.
Throughout his career, Adams has insisted on the importance of joy, leisure, and the pursuit of happiness as essential dimensions of Black experience. In this new body of work, that same spirit of celebration becomes a way of revisiting art history, not as a fixed narrative, but as a living conversation in which admiration, humor, and critical inquiry coexist.
