Adam Stone
Contemporary artist Adam Stone was born in Hollywood, California in 1966. He grew up in the ethnically diverse and cultural melting pot of L.A.’s historic Miracle Mile district. A fertile ground for the early inspiration that would ultimately serve as the catalyst for his style of contemporary urban expressionism.
A self taught painter, he was born into a family of artists where art was not only a means of self expression but one of survival in and of itself. His parents were pioneers in the L.A. street fine art festival scene back in the early 70’s. At the age of 17, he began to experiment with collage assemblages and abstracts. He started selling these early works on the Venice Beach Boardwalk and after a couple of successful years, began to exhibit in many of the local Southern California Fine Art Festivals that his family helped refine.
His love for painting the human figure in motion can be traced to an early admiration of the strong character renderings, bold colors and dramatic perspectives featured in the art of Marvel and DC comic books. His figurative paintings depicting scenes from night clubs, musicians and athletes were perfect subjects to convey his fascination with the raw and breathtaking power of human emotional and physical intention.
Born somewhat color blind, early on in his career he had problems differentiating between certain colors on the spectrum. Earth tones in particular. Hence, his earlier paintings were done with acrylics right out of the tube and spray paint. He would draw his subjects with black paint markers onto clear sheets of Plexiglas and build them out with bold primary colors. These pieces had a Pop Art style and he enjoyed creating and selling them for years.
While enjoying financial success with these reverse Plexiglas paintings, he was also struggling with this medium’s limitations for painting in greater depth. He was longing to improve his skills and refine his ability to see and work with colors that were still foreign to his eyes. At this time, he was solely earning a living with these paintings and he recalls it being an incredibly difficult decision to move away from them and the financial security they provided. In a sudden departure and leap of faith, he decided to follow his spirit’s desire to expand. He switched to painting on canvas and wood where the building up and manipulation of layers would now be more easily explored. This journey towards learning to paint with more reverence for traditional techniques and processes was underway.
The transition lent way to multiple evolutions of styles and themes and before too long he was mixing colors that were always a struggle to identify. He was now learning to work with a variety of mediums and glazes and enjoying the process of creating more depth and nuance in the work. Although these next paintings took nearly ten times the effort and time to create…it nurtured his Soul to become a more confidant and well rounded painter.
There was still much to be learned, but fortunately he continued to prosper with these new works. Over the years, he’s enjoyed every bit of his personal creative journey and development. As with most artists, he’s become addicted to the ‘problem solving’ that is imminent with every new project. The challenges he usually faces while taking a painting from early stage to completion are often heavy. As he doesn’t often work from very detailed sketches…he will often paint himself into corners that take a great deal of time and energy to paint out of. He loves the rush of painting without too detailed of a plan and each painting is a unique expedition of discovery for him.
An avid animal lover, many of his favorite furry friends have staked their claim amidst the compositions of his earlier figurative works. In the latest body of work, he’s redirected the focus from that of the figure to the animal realm. These mystical creatures often possess human-like characteristics that serve as a whimsical reflection and satirical commentary on the adventurous plight of the human condition.
The goal is to place the subjects in both familiar and dream like realities where their actions and expressions take us on a visceral trip deep into our mind’s eye. To places within our psyche and spirit where our imagination and intuition light the way.
Over the last 25 years, he’s sold hundreds of original paintings. His art work has been featured on hit TV Series, published Internationally, graced the walls of Fortune 500 companies and is represented in both public and private collections around the world.
He currently lives and works in Los Angeles, California.
Explore My Work
To see more of my work, check out the selected works and installations slideshows featured in the gallery section.