Justin Adian (born 1976, Fort Worth, Texas) lives and works in New York. Working at the intersection of painting and sculpture, Adian is best known for his shaped, wall-mounted works in which painted canvas is stretched over carved foam and mounted on custom supports. Since developing this distinctive approach in the mid-2000s, his practice has explored perception, materiality, and the expressive potential of abstract form.

Adian’s process begins with line drawings that function as templates for cutting foam shapes, which are then composed into dynamic arrangements before being wrapped in canvas and finished with oil enamel. The resulting works possess a physical presence that emphasizes mass, pressure, and contour, while their saturated colors and crisp edges lend them a graphic, almost cartoon-like immediacy. Referential yet self-renewing, his work evolves serially, with each piece responding to the last, drawing subtle connections to postwar abstraction, Pop, and sculptural traditions without settling into fixed categories.

Adian has exhibited internationally in solo exhibitions at Almine Rech (Paris and Brussels), Skarstedt (New York and London), Loyal (Stockholm), and Half Gallery (New York). His work has been included in group exhibitions at Gagosian (London), Almine Rech (New York), Rachel Uffner (New York), Luxembourg & Dayan (New York), Martos (New York), National Exemplar Gallery (New York), and Loyal (Stockholm), among others. Writing on his work has appeared in Artforum, Interview Magazine, The New York Times, W Magazine, and Widewall’s Young American Painters To Follow. Adian received his MFA from Rutgers University, Mason Gross School of the Arts, in 2003, and his BFA from the University of North Texas in 2000. His work is held in public collections including the Dallas Museum of Art.

Education

2003 MFA, Rutgers University, Mason Gross School of the Arts, New Brunswick, NJ
2000 BFA, University of North Texas, Denton, TX

Solo Exhibitions

2024
Reverb, William Campbell Gallery, Ft. Worth, TX

2023
Tipsy, Almine Rech, Shanghai, China
Tennis Elbow 126: Justin Adian, Witchy, The Journal Gallery, New York, NY

2021
New Works, galerie lange + pult, Zurich, Switzerland
Carousel, Lowell Ryan Projects, Los Angeles, CA
Tennis Elbow: Justin Adian, The Journal Gallery, New York, NY

2019
Analogue, Loyal, Stockholm, Sweden
Casual Encounters, Sean Horton Presents, Dallas, TX

2018
Justin Adian with Blair Thurman, galerie lange + pult, Zurich, Switzerland
Heaven on the Highway, Almine Rech Gallery, Brussels, Belgium

2017
Sun Tan, Half Gallery, New York, NY
Second Skin, The Fireplace Project, East Hampton, New York, USA

2016
Waltz, Almine Rech Gallery, Paris, France

2015
Fort Worth, Skarstedt, Chelsea, New York, NY

2014
Strangers, Skarstedt, London, England
Backlits, The National Exemplar, New York, NY

2012
Come and Take It, Blackston, New York, NY

2010
Afterglow, Blackston, New York, NY

Group Exhibitions

2025
R U Still Painting???, FALCON Art Collective, New York, NY
Blakehaus Beverly Hills, Richard Neutra’s William H. Levit House, Peter Blake Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

2024
Celebrating 50 Years of Art, William Campbell Gallery, Fort Worth, TX
Fuego Frío, William Campbell Gallery, Fort Worth, TX
Le MAMCO, de mémoire, MAMCO, Geneva, Switzerland
Abstract, galerie lange + pult, Auvernier, Switzerland
Anticipate, William Campbell Gallery, Ft. Worth, TX

2023
Blakehaus Palm Springs, Peter Blake Gallery, Palm Springs, CA

2022
Beyond The Frame, Sorry We’re Closed, Brussels, Belgium
Recent Acquisitions 2002-2022, The Modern Art Museum of Forth Worth, Fort Worth, TX
Shaped, galerie lange + pult, Zurich, Switzerland
&, Mamco - musée d´art moderne et contemporain, Geneva, Switzerland
Gesamtkunstwerk, Peter Blake Gallery, Laguna Beach, CA

2021
August Presentation, Almine Rech, Aspen, CO
Puffy Luminous Frequencies, MARQUEE PROJECTS, Bellport, NY

2020
Things on Walls, New Discretions, New York, NY
100 Sculptures, No Gallery, Los Angeles, USA
The Crowning Show, galerie lange + pult, Zurich, Switzerland
100! A group exhibition commemorating Loyal’s 100th show, Loyal Gallery, Stockholm, Sweden
Coalition for the Homeless, Online Only, Almine Rech

2019
Justin Adian & Samuel Stabler: All Points in Between, Howard’s, Athens, GA
Flora/ Fauna, Bienvenu Steinberg & Partners Gallery, New York, NY
9999, The Fireplace Project, East Hampton, NY
Rämistrasse 27, galerie lange + pult, Zurich, Switzerland
Lineup, Almine Rech Gallery, New York, NY
Highs and Lows, curated by Justin Adian, Mast Books, New York, NY

2018
By Fire, Ceramic Works, Almine Rech Gallery, New York, NY
Justin Adian / Blair Thurman, Galerie Lange + Pult, Zurich, Switzerland
Burnt, Marlborough Contemporary, New York, NY
The Concrete States of Animation, Loyal, Stockholm, Sweden
The Surface of the East Coast, curated by Marie Maertens, Turn Gallery, New York, NY

2017
Justin Adian & Wendy White: Gypsy Wagon, Capital, San Francisco, CA
The Surface of the East Coast, from Nice to New York’, Le 109, Nice, France
White Trash, Luhring Augustine, Brooklyn, NY
Color Block, Triple V, Paris, France
ONLY Small Paintings, Fortnight Institute, New York, NY

2016
In Different Ways, Almine Rech Gallery, London, England
Puff Pieces, Rachel Uffner Gallery, New York, NY

2015
Rascal House, Half Gallery, New York, NY
Sprayed, Gagosian Gallery, Britannia Street, London, England
White Columns Benefit Exhibition, White Columns, New York, NY

2014
The Shaped Canvas, Revisited, Luxembourg & Dayan, New York, NY
Legs, The National Exemplar, New York, NY

2013
Sculpture after Artschwager, David Nolan Gallery, New York, NY
Justin Adian & Tristano Di Robilant, National Exemplar Gallery, New York, NY
Steven Parrino/Blair Thurman/Justin Adian, Half Gallery, New York, NY

2012
Salon Zürcher, Galerie Zürcher, Paris, France
I’m So Goth – I am Dead!, Queen’s Nails, San Francisco, CA
New Traditionalist, Martos Gallery, New York, NY
Can’t Stop Rock Lobster – Merkx & Gyrnne, Shoot the Lobster, New York, NY

2011
Battle of the Brush: An Outdoor Painting Exhibit, Curated by Alexander Glauber, Bryant Park, New York, NY

2010
Foundation for the Contemporary Arts Benefit Auction, Lehmann Maupin, New York, NY
You Were There, Curated by Thomas Duncan, Rachel Uffner Gallery, New York, NY
Painting Comes Alive, Artjail, New York, NY

2009
Before the wind blows it all away, Rover Yonder, Brooklyn, NY
Untitled, Jack the Pelican Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
Conceptual Furniture, DepARTment Gallery, Toronto, Canada
Lynchmob, HBC Gallery, Berlin, Germany

2008
$999 Christmas Bizarre, Honey Space, New York, NY
Collapsed Present, North Hall Gallery, New York, NY

2007
UNT/NYC #2: Painting, the Semi Sublime, UNT Artspace, Fort Worth, TX

2004
Into the Woods, Morsel Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
Pushing Paint, Center for Visual Arts, Brookdale College, NJ
The Very Rich Hours, Elizabeth Line, New York, NY

2003
Toxic, Max Protetch Gallery, New York, NY
New Slang, Luhring Augustine Gallery, New York, NY
Off the Top, Bill Maynes Gallery, New York, NY
Painting’s Edge Summer Residency Exhibition, Idyllwild, CA
CAA MFA Exhibition, Hunter College, New York, NY
Selections from the MFA Annual, OSP Gallery, Boston, MA
MFA Thesis Exhibition, Rutgers University Gallery, Mason Gross School of the Arts, New Brunswick, NJ

2001
Master of Reality, Four Walls Gallery, Fort Worth, TX
Five by Seven by X, Dunn & Brown Gallery, Dallas, TX

2000
Pretty Paintings by Rejects, Good/Bad Art Collective, Denton, TX
Expo 2000, 500X Gallery, Dallas, TX
Beautiful Intentions, Cora Stafford Gallery, Denton, TX

1999
Video Night, Good/Bad Art Collective, Denton, TX
Senior Thesis Exhibition, Cora Stafford Gallery, Denton, TX

Public Collections

Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TX