Artist Talk: Adam Pendleton

Rein Wolfs (Director, Stedelijk Museum) in conversation with artist Adam Pendleton about his first museum exhibition in the Netherlands, Some Wild Kind of Language.

During this Artist Talk, artist Adam Pendleton and Rein Wolfs (Director of Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam) discuss Some Wild Kind of Language, Pendleton’s first museum exhibition in the Netherlands. Through works presented in the exhibition, they offer insight into the ideas, references and working methods that underpin his artistic practice.

The conversation touches on Pendleton’s exploration of abstraction, history and the relationship between image and meaning. It will also address his process of making, in which layers of paint, printmaking techniques, textual fragments and gestures converge. Offering a deeper perspective on the exhibition, the talk reveals how Pendleton’s work challenges conventional understandings of composition, perception and abstraction.

This Artist Talk is part of an inspiring series of conversations designed to provide a deeper insight into the creative process and artistic expression of exceptional artists. Step into the mind of an artist and discover what drives their work.

ABOUT ADAM PENDLETON
Adam Pendleton (1984, Richmond, Virginia, United States), a central figure in contemporary American art, is known for paintings that push the boundaries of the medium through a sustained engagement with process, language, and conceptual form. In 2008, he began to define the working method for which he is now widely recognized as Black Dada—a critical framework that explores the relationship between Blackness, abstraction, and avant-garde movements. In 2024, he was honored with the Rosenthal Family Foundation Award for Painting from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Pendleton’s work is held in numerous public collections, including The Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, DC; the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago; Tate, London; and the Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich.

ABOUT REIN WOLFS
Rein Wolfs has been the director of the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam since December 2019. After studying at the University of Amsterdam, he worked as the first director of the Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst in Zurich and as head of presentations at the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam, after which he moved to Germany, where he led the Kunsthalle Fridericianum in Kassel from 2008 and became Director of the Bundeskunsthalle in Bonn in 2013. In 2003, he was the curator of the Dutch Pavilion during the Venice Biennale. At the Stedelijk Museum, he (co-)initiated many exhibitions, including Hito Steyerl, Ulay, Remy Jungerman, Anne Imhof, Felix de Rooy, Nan Goldin, Marina Abramović, Pamela Rosenkranz, Ellen Gallagher, Miriam Cahn, and Danh Vo.

Details:

• Price: Museum ticket + €3

• Location: Fonda café, located next to the Adam
Pendleton exhibition

• Time: 9:00 – 10:15 am, exclusive access before opening hours

• Language (of event): English

Supported by Mondriaan Fund.
In collaboration with Amsterdam Art Week.
Photo: Adam Pendleton, 2024. Photo Matthew Septimus.