Artists
Richard Adams
Richard Adams
Richard Adams spent his early years in Wiltshire, he studied illustration at Leicester Polytechnic and on graduating he moved to London. He worked there as a freelance illustrator for several years working for clients as diverse as the Radio Times, Penguin Books and BP and during the 1980's won many awards for his illustration work.
Gradually he retired from illustration, frustrated by the confines of a brief and began exhibiting annually with Hybrid in 1991. At this time he also exhibited with the Portal in London and Bremen, in Sydney, Madrid, Washington and Dallas. In 1995 Adams moved to East Sussex where he still lives and since this time has devoted his time to works for exhibition. He now exhibits twice annually with Hybrid and also in The Cotswolds and in London.
The port of Rye and the Sussex countryside feature heavily in his work as does the Cornish coast where he holidays and the Cotswolds, familiar from his childhood. Recent time spent in Devon and in particular at Combe House Hotel in Gittisham, for whom he has executed several commissions, have encouraged the introduction of the Devon countryside into his images. Adams' work continues to be inspired by his long-held loves for English vernacular architecture, British history and our native flora and fauna.
Yet the true subject of Adams' work is the imagination; through his flights of fancy he carries the viewer into an unreal world peopled with colourful characters in simple, domestic and rural pursuits. Whilst Adams embraces the supernatural or darker side of life in his detail-rich narratives his view is ultimately optimistic and life-affirming. Likened to the eccentric visionaries, Spencer and Dadd his work follows in a tradition of British image making which he refreshes with his unique wit and subtle humour.
Exhibitions
Joy Ride 24 July - 21 August 2010
Pleasure Grounds 2 October - 6 November
