Arts Week

Adam Graham’s Provincetown Vision

Artist Adam Graham was my guest this week on Arts Week (check out the podcast of the show if you have time), and I was impressed not only with his work—which is flat-out gorgeous—but also with his passion and articulation in talking about it.

Here’s his bio and artist statement:

“Adam Graham began studying impressionist painting under the guidance of his father, painter Bob Graham, who was a longtime pupil of Henry Hensche.

“Adam moved from his hometown of New Orleans in 1999 to further study the Henshe impressionist method at the Cape Cod School of Art under the tutelage of Lois Griffel. His interest is in using the principles learned painting en plein air for the last 11 years and applying them to new and original motifs.

“Artificial light at twilight is Graham’s main focus. The time of day when the world takes on an indigo glow and is punctuated with glimmering street lights. Dark shapes take on new form and the ordinary world becomes a waking lucid dream.”

Looking through his work (as you can when you visit his website), I’m struck by how important is the sense of place. It’s always comforting to recognize a place or a person in works of art—one feels somehow connected to the artist and his creativity that way—but what this artist does is give one a radically different perspective on scenes familiar to us through everyday proximity. The giant ice cream cone outside of Twisted Sister becomes ominous under Graham’s brushwork, while seeing the streets from a frog’s perspective allows and invites the viewer to look at them with fresh eyes.

Graham is represented by the Rice-Polak gallery in Provincetown. They’ll be opening for the season soon; make sure you stop by to see his work.

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Jeannette de Beauvoir is the host of Arts Week on WOMR, a contributing writer to Provincetown Magazine, and a novelist, editor, and marketing writer. More about her at linkedin.com/in/jeannettedebeauvoir