Oct 10

Adam Anglin

Adam Anglin is a contemporary painter who has exhibited in the American Midwest such as the Salina Arts Center in Kansas and a solo exhibition with the Crowd Collective in Boulder, Colorado. He has been listed as one of Saatchi Art’s Rising Stars 2024 and published by Bold Journey, Shoutout Colorado, and Denverite. Adam is also a grant recipient from the Cherry Arts nonprofit organization in Denver.

The paintings incorporate aspects of geometry and angular design with delicate landscapes. A fusion takes hold between the natural world and human-made structures. Adam communicates to the viewer a sense of allegory and symbolism, what becomes apparent to the audience when geometry and nature are combined? We may observe in nature, geometry does not exist, as nature contains mostly asymmetrical and organic forms. The natural world represents fluidity, chaos and unpredictability while geometry and mathematics represents a sense of order and controlled structure.

Containing mostly neon and bright colors, these geometric rectangles, spheres, and lines invade the space and lay upon the composition a dominating presence. Adam combines minimalist geometry with detailed and lush landscapes creating a contradiction and harmonious tension. By combining the shapes and linearity, Adam applies a sense of structure and composure to the free-flowing landscape natural scenes of remote arid mountains and deserts. Like a composer he balances out the imperfections of nature and fine tunes the composition with a sense of refinement and silent musical score.

Canyonlands (pictured above) represents the sun with linearity flowing through and thin, long rectangles and lines laid out without pattern or form. The various squares and rectangles bring a great sense of flatness to the composition while the linearity drives the viewer eye across the entire surface. The desert mountain landscape is sliced in half and portions with the remainder being defined through flat spaces of blues. There remains a great pleasurable experience in the combination of pastels with bright natural colors.

Adam Anglin can be described as a dynamic painter who explores the importance of placing structure on our environments. While the paintings may not be a reflection of reality, they still possess and interpret a need for humanity to apply structure and balance to the chaos of the natural world. In a sense, the works can be described as deeply psychological which communicate humanity’s desires to apply control and dominance over the free flow of nature. These strong compositions offer great refinement and harmony to what would otherwise be predictable landscapes, Adam reels in the scenery and applies flatness and contemporary design principles to traditional imagery.