Mixed Media Portrait
Adam Chamy is known for works that re-imagine genre scenes and portraiture works into conceptually rich art. Taking inspiration from discarded photographs and unusual found materials his works explore themes ranging from the dialogue between modernity and spirituality to the politics of identity.
Born in Fort Worth, Adam graduated George Washington University in 2009 and received a BA in International Affairs with minors in art, art history, and anthropology. Chamy lives and practices in the Columbia Heights neighborhood of Washington, DC. His works have exhibited in the Washington area, Texas, and abroad in Spain at venues including the Dallas Museum of Art.
Please field art inquiries to:
adamchamy@gmail.com
Artist Statement:
Art is found first – then created. At least, that’s the way I approach each work. Drawing from found photographs, unusual materials, or perhaps the odd-shaped canvas – I conceive of works which do not create an end in of themselves but instead connect to a wider psychological archetype personified by found art or unusual materials. A mirror becomes literally the stage for cranes flying above a reflective pool of water, a forgotten box becomes a shrine to some lost myth, and a series of tiny canvases inspire the break down of an already abstract human portrait.
My work is primarily concerned with finding beauty in the quotidian and inspiring moments of intense spirituality and self-awareness. I draw from both dream and waking life to create dreamlike genre scenes, portraiture and conceptual works. Whatever the subject – portrait or myth – and whatever the medium – installation or watercolor, each ultimately attempts in its’ own way to channel a sense of secular surrealism. That is – an archetype, a moment, or a theme – which connects both the piece and the viewer to a fantastic vision of something more.
Artist Resume:
2011 Group Exhibit, “Arab-American Art Exhibition”–National Arab American Professionals Network-DC & Jerusalem Art Gallery, Washington, DC www.thejerusalemfund.org/
October 2011, Lecturer, “Artistic Arabs in the Arts” sponsored by the Arab Student Association, George Washington University
October 2011, Lecturer, “Of Refuge, of Home” John Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies students, Jerusalem Fund Art Gallery
2011 Solo Exhibit, “Of Refuge, Of Home” Jerusalem Fund Art Gallery, Washington, DC
2011 Contributing Illustrator & Designer. “Washington” Numbers Alive! Books for Young Travelers
2011 Group Exhibit, “Art” by Adam Chamy & Jessica Shull, Flying Fish Tea & Coffee, Washington, DC
2009 Group Exhibit, “Just Art” GaleriaZero, Barcelona, Spain
2009 Group Exhibit, “My Space on 5th“ Touchstone Gallery, Washington DC 2009
2007 Published Photography, Aries: Art and Literature Publication, Texas Wesleyan University, Fort Worth, Texas
2006 Published Photography, Wooden Teeth: Art and Literature Publication, George Washington University, Washington, DC
2005 Contest, Experimental Film , “Epilogue for a Wallflower” Grapevine-Colleyville ISD Film Festival, Best Cinematography/Best Film (Drama Category), Grapevine, TX
2004 Group Exhibit, “Young Master’s Exhibition: 2004″, Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, Texas
