-
Derrick Adams' art presents a colorful take on the 21st century Black experience creating new perspectives and shifting perceptions. Blending pop, urban and social commentary his powerful vignettes invite us to question our World offering hope, joy and fun. Discover our selection of Derrick Adams art for sale at Guy Hepner.
-
Works
Derrick Adams
Where My Girls At?, 2024Screenprint on Lanaquarelle watercolor paper
Signed36 x 36 in
91.4 x 91.4 cmEdition: of 40Series: PrintsCopyright The ArtistDerrick Adams’ Where My Girls At? is a bold and rhythmic celebration of sisterhood, confidence, and self-definition within the contemporary Black experience. Executed in his signature geometric style, the work...Derrick Adams’ Where My Girls At? is a bold and rhythmic celebration of sisterhood, confidence, and self-definition within the contemporary Black experience. Executed in his signature geometric style, the work features four women rendered in vivid planes of color—ochres, browns, pinks, and reds—assembled like facets of a prism. Each face, composed of angular shapes and sharp contrasts, radiates individuality while contributing to a collective strength. Their expressions are poised and self-assured, gazing outward with quiet power.
The composition positions the women within an urban setting—perhaps a reflection in a storefront window or a city street corner—suggesting both presence and visibility in public space. The neon lines and fractured geometry evoke the artificial light of modern life, while the women’s stylized features ground the scene in the human and emotional. The title, Where My Girls At?, draws from colloquial speech and pop culture, invoking a sense of solidarity and community. It’s a call to connection, a rallying cry for recognition and celebration among women of color.
Adams’ work is steeped in the language of abstraction and design but carries deep social meaning. Drawing from influences like Romare Bearden, Jacob Lawrence, and cubist pioneers, Adams reconstructs the Black figure in ways that affirm identity without resorting to realism. His use of collage-like planes mirrors the layered nature of selfhood—each facet representing experience, culture, and emotion.
In Where My Girls At?, Adams centers Black women as protagonists of urban modernity—stylish, self-possessed, and unapologetically seen. Their hairstyles, makeup, and posture suggest empowerment through self-presentation, a theme recurring throughout Adams’ “Beauty World” and “Style Variations” series. These works celebrate beauty salons, hair culture, and the aesthetics of care as spaces of affirmation and autonomy within Black communities.
Beyond portraiture, Where My Girls At? is about visibility and agency. Adams challenges the historical erasure of Black bodies in mainstream art by positioning them within a Pop-inflected, contemporary visual lexicon. His figures inhabit the everyday—streets, pools, living rooms—yet their stylization elevates them to the realm of iconography.
The vibrant palette and rhythmic structure invite parallels to African textiles and modern design, blurring distinctions between fine art and cultural expression. The grid-like logic of the piece connects Adams to traditions of pattern-making and modernist composition, while the emotional immediacy of the figures grounds the work in human experience.
Ultimately, Where My Girls At? is both a portrait and a proclamation. It speaks to belonging and collective identity, asserting that joy, style, and visibility are not superficial—they are deeply political acts. In the wider context of Black contemporary art, Adams stands as a leading voice redefining representation, using color and composition as tools of empowerment. His work, infused with optimism and wit, reframes the visual language of Pop and abstraction to celebrate the multidimensionality of Black life, beauty, and resilience.
For more information on Derrick Adam's Where My Girls At?, contact our galleries using the enquiry form below.
20of 20SeriesDerrick Adams
Where My Girls At?, 2024Screenprint on Lanaquarelle watercolor paper
Signed36 x 36 in
91.4 x 91.4 cmEdition: of 40Series: PrintsCopyright The ArtistDerrick Adams’ Where My Girls At? is a bold and rhythmic celebration of sisterhood, confidence, and self-definition within the contemporary Black experience. Executed in his signature geometric style, the work...Derrick Adams’ Where My Girls At? is a bold and rhythmic celebration of sisterhood, confidence, and self-definition within the contemporary Black experience. Executed in his signature geometric style, the work features four women rendered in vivid planes of color—ochres, browns, pinks, and reds—assembled like facets of a prism. Each face, composed of angular shapes and sharp contrasts, radiates individuality while contributing to a collective strength. Their expressions are poised and self-assured, gazing outward with quiet power.
The composition positions the women within an urban setting—perhaps a reflection in a storefront window or a city street corner—suggesting both presence and visibility in public space. The neon lines and fractured geometry evoke the artificial light of modern life, while the women’s stylized features ground the scene in the human and emotional. The title, Where My Girls At?, draws from colloquial speech and pop culture, invoking a sense of solidarity and community. It’s a call to connection, a rallying cry for recognition and celebration among women of color.
Adams’ work is steeped in the language of abstraction and design but carries deep social meaning. Drawing from influences like Romare Bearden, Jacob Lawrence, and cubist pioneers, Adams reconstructs the Black figure in ways that affirm identity without resorting to realism. His use of collage-like planes mirrors the layered nature of selfhood—each facet representing experience, culture, and emotion.
In Where My Girls At?, Adams centers Black women as protagonists of urban modernity—stylish, self-possessed, and unapologetically seen. Their hairstyles, makeup, and posture suggest empowerment through self-presentation, a theme recurring throughout Adams’ “Beauty World” and “Style Variations” series. These works celebrate beauty salons, hair culture, and the aesthetics of care as spaces of affirmation and autonomy within Black communities.
Beyond portraiture, Where My Girls At? is about visibility and agency. Adams challenges the historical erasure of Black bodies in mainstream art by positioning them within a Pop-inflected, contemporary visual lexicon. His figures inhabit the everyday—streets, pools, living rooms—yet their stylization elevates them to the realm of iconography.
The vibrant palette and rhythmic structure invite parallels to African textiles and modern design, blurring distinctions between fine art and cultural expression. The grid-like logic of the piece connects Adams to traditions of pattern-making and modernist composition, while the emotional immediacy of the figures grounds the work in human experience.
Ultimately, Where My Girls At? is both a portrait and a proclamation. It speaks to belonging and collective identity, asserting that joy, style, and visibility are not superficial—they are deeply political acts. In the wider context of Black contemporary art, Adams stands as a leading voice redefining representation, using color and composition as tools of empowerment. His work, infused with optimism and wit, reframes the visual language of Pop and abstraction to celebrate the multidimensionality of Black life, beauty, and resilience.
For more information on Derrick Adam's Where My Girls At?, contact our galleries using the enquiry form below.
20of 20NewsOverview“Art was all mine, and it was all me".
Across Derrick Adams’ art there is a profound sense of joyful celebration as the multi-disciplinary artist tells vibrant stories that explore Black identity, culture and history. Working across paintings, sculpture, collage and performance, his colorful snapshots and vignettes are very much of our contemporary world yet rooted in a deep sense of tradition. Deconstruction, by default, leads to reconstruction and Adams' work reconstructs and alternate experience through the deconstruction of prevailing social codes and narratives.
Derrick Adams’ prints and paintings are an amalgamation of style reflecting his nuanced and post-modern approach to the themes that he explores. Combining pop culture, personal narratives and social commentaries Adam creates compelling scenes that are ornate in their use of color and visually arresting in the composition.
Throughout his works Adams’ narratives are told through his vibrant use of color, geometric shapes, and mixed-media elements which blend together as the artist explores the way mass media affects identity, particularly in the context of African Americans in contemporary culture.
Derrick Adams’ art tells of hope and he often uses empowering motives including uplifting portraits of Black men, women and children where he re-imagines and address the status quo of society offering an inclusive new reality. Influenced by the everyday, Adams also draws from the symbols of our 21st life in all their recognizable pop glory including rubber ducks, swimming pool inflatables and beaming bright, saturated television sets - a critical approach to media representation is a recurring theme in his work.
For more information on our selection of Derrick Adams prints for sale or to buy Derrick Adams original art, contact info@guyhepner.com