Faculty

Profile

Based in New York City, Adam Ames (born 1969; BA 1991 University of Pennsylvania, General Studies in Photography 1993 International Center of Photography, MFA 1997 School of Visual Arts) works in a variety of media to dissect his sense of self and manipulate viewers and their mediated art experience. By employing myriad filters, i.e. horror films, sitcom television, heavy metal music and other forms of pop culture, Ames molds and represents his identity. While such obfuscation can be seen as an avoidance, the works - masks in their own way - present much more. Taken individually at face value, the cumulative effect may be lost. But, when a mask conceals something, study the mask. 

In 1998, Ames began working with Andrew Bordwin as the collaborative Type A; the duo worked exclusively together from 2004 through 2012. Their video, video installation, photography, sculpture and drawing deal with issues of masculinity, competition and collaboration in contemporary society. Their recent practice has expanded to include a larger collaborative circle in virtually every project they develop. Type A has increasingly sought to place work outside the usual venues in which contemporary art is seen and experienced, and it has focused on some of the most urgent issues facing our societies today: territory, fear, safety and authority — both real and perceived.

Ames and Type A have exhibited extensively including such institutions as MCA Denver (Denver, CO), The Indianapolis Museum of Art (Indianapolis, IN), The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum (Ridgefield, CT), The Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery (Saratoga Springs, NY), The DeCordova Sculpture Park + Museum (Lincoln, MA), The Luckman Fine Art Complex at California State University (Los Angeles, CA), The Walker Art Center (Minneapolis, MN), Art in General (New York, NY), The Addison Gallery of American Art (Andover, MA), The List Visual Arts Center at MIT (Cambridge, MA), ICA Philadelphia (Philadelphia, PA), Contemporary Art Center (New Orleans, LA), Institute of Contemporary Art (Palm Beach, FL), UCLA Hammer Museum (Los Angeles, CA) and The Johnson Museum at Cornell University (Ithaca, NY), Lincoln Center, Walter Reade Theater (New York, NY) The Parrish Art Museum (Southampton, NY) in addition to many galleries. Ames teaches at Parsons School of Design.

Degrees Held

BA 1991 University of Pennsylvania

General Studies in Photography 1993 International Center of Photography

MFA 1997 School of Visual Arts

Research Interests

art, film, photography, video, music, art criticism, art history

Portfolio

http://www.typea.us/