Contact
AdriaPecoraStudio@gmail.com
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About the artist
Adria Pecora (b., 1965, Newark, NJ) is a visual artist from Newark and Asbury Park, NJ who currently lives and works in the Southwest. Grounded in material and language, her work in painting and drawing operates at the intersection of form and concept. Her creative process contests systems and chance procedures to argue against mechanical and randomized modes of authorship.
Adria’s work has recently been exhibited at Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art in Unapologetic: All Women, All Year, 2020. It has been shown at the Phoenix Art Museum and in a tribute to Sol LeWitt at MassMoCA.
Solo exhibitions include, Everything I don't want you to know about me, 2011; Exchanges, 2010; Feedback, 2009; and Nets, 2007.
Adria’s work is represented in the collections of Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art; Kala Art Institute, Berkeley; Santa Fe Art Institute; Skidmore College; and the Franklin Furnace artist book collection at MoMA/PS 1.
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Residencies and fellowships
In 2017, Adria participated in a seminar led by Faisal Devji at the School of Criticism and Theory at Cornell University. Several years prior, she attended a masterclass held by Jorinde Voigt at Autocenter in Berlin and studied generative art at UC Berkeley while in residence at the Kala Art Institute. Adria held residencies at Santa Fe Art Institute (the fellowship was supported by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, 2008) and Contemporary Artists Center, North Adams (where she received a grant ajudicated by Thomas Krens and Walter Hopps, 1996). She is the recipient of several awards including a grant from the Contemporary Forum at the Phoenix Art Museum (2010); and a traveling fellowship by School of the Art Institute of Chicago (1991).
Early education and career
Adria’s interest in art was fostered during childhood by a friend's parents, Alfred Jensen and Regina Bogat. She studied art at Skidmore College and received her BS in 1987. There she culitvated an appreciation of the New York School, studying with Jeff Elgin, Robert Boyers and Harry F. Gaugh; attending lectures by Dorothy Dehner, Dore Ashton, and Clement Greenberg and symposia held at the New York State Summer Writers Institute. Her work with David Miller encouraged her painting process to adopt calligraphy, brokering incorporation of line and language. Encouraged by Dehner and Ashton to study in Paris, Adria spent a year abroad, attending the University of Paris and the painting atelier of Pierre Matthey de l'Etang at the National School of Fine Arts (ENSBA). Under the auspices of a Trustee Scholarship, Adria attended School of the Art Institute of Chicago and obtained the MFA in 1991. In addition to her work in painting and drawing, she studied photography with Colin Westerbeck and Joan Fontcuberta.
Adria taught art at Skidmore’s Summer6 program and at New York University and worked for a New York-based non-profit arts organization that supported at-risk youth. In a multifaceted administrative role at Cooper Union, Adria organized exhibits and lectures and helped found fund-raising initiatives. She worked with Vito Acconci to realize a publication of his writings in recognition of his tenure as Robert Gwathmey Chair in Architecture and Art. As facillities director for the School of Art, she was among core consultants regarding design needs of the academic building at 41 Cooper Square. In 2005, Adria relocated to Phoenix where she has since invested in her teaching and studio practice.
Adria’s work has recently been exhibited at Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art in Unapologetic: All Women, All Year, 2020. It has been shown at the Phoenix Art Museum and in a tribute to Sol LeWitt at MassMoCA.
Solo exhibitions include, Everything I don't want you to know about me, 2011; Exchanges, 2010; Feedback, 2009; and Nets, 2007.
Adria’s work is represented in the collections of Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art; Kala Art Institute, Berkeley; Santa Fe Art Institute; Skidmore College; and the Franklin Furnace artist book collection at MoMA/PS 1.
More
Residencies and fellowships
In 2017, Adria participated in a seminar led by Faisal Devji at the School of Criticism and Theory at Cornell University. Several years prior, she attended a masterclass held by Jorinde Voigt at Autocenter in Berlin and studied generative art at UC Berkeley while in residence at the Kala Art Institute. Adria held residencies at Santa Fe Art Institute (the fellowship was supported by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, 2008) and Contemporary Artists Center, North Adams (where she received a grant ajudicated by Thomas Krens and Walter Hopps, 1996). She is the recipient of several awards including a grant from the Contemporary Forum at the Phoenix Art Museum (2010); and a traveling fellowship by School of the Art Institute of Chicago (1991).
Early education and career
Adria’s interest in art was fostered during childhood by a friend's parents, Alfred Jensen and Regina Bogat. She studied art at Skidmore College and received her BS in 1987. There she culitvated an appreciation of the New York School, studying with Jeff Elgin, Robert Boyers and Harry F. Gaugh; attending lectures by Dorothy Dehner, Dore Ashton, and Clement Greenberg and symposia held at the New York State Summer Writers Institute. Her work with David Miller encouraged her painting process to adopt calligraphy, brokering incorporation of line and language. Encouraged by Dehner and Ashton to study in Paris, Adria spent a year abroad, attending the University of Paris and the painting atelier of Pierre Matthey de l'Etang at the National School of Fine Arts (ENSBA). Under the auspices of a Trustee Scholarship, Adria attended School of the Art Institute of Chicago and obtained the MFA in 1991. In addition to her work in painting and drawing, she studied photography with Colin Westerbeck and Joan Fontcuberta.
Adria taught art at Skidmore’s Summer6 program and at New York University and worked for a New York-based non-profit arts organization that supported at-risk youth. In a multifaceted administrative role at Cooper Union, Adria organized exhibits and lectures and helped found fund-raising initiatives. She worked with Vito Acconci to realize a publication of his writings in recognition of his tenure as Robert Gwathmey Chair in Architecture and Art. As facillities director for the School of Art, she was among core consultants regarding design needs of the academic building at 41 Cooper Square. In 2005, Adria relocated to Phoenix where she has since invested in her teaching and studio practice.
Artist statement
My work speaks to personal experience while seeking dialogue with historical examples. I tend to organize it into distinct bodies governed by particular themes, materials, and processes.
I am interested in evoking experiences that are equally sensual and intellectual. I reflect on the human condition, the urban environment and the passage of time. Themes include entropy, loss, and obsolescence.
Current work incorporates motifs of entrenchment and evanescence through processes of mark-making, writing, engraving, erasure, and veiling.
My work speaks to personal experience while seeking dialogue with historical examples. I tend to organize it into distinct bodies governed by particular themes, materials, and processes.
I am interested in evoking experiences that are equally sensual and intellectual. I reflect on the human condition, the urban environment and the passage of time. Themes include entropy, loss, and obsolescence.
Current work incorporates motifs of entrenchment and evanescence through processes of mark-making, writing, engraving, erasure, and veiling.