Terry Adkins received his BS from Fisk University (1975), his MS from Illinois State University (1977), and his MFA from the University of Kentucky (1979). Adkins taught sculpture at the University of Pennsylvania.
His solo exhibitions included Nenuphar, Salon 94 Bowery and Salon 94 Freemans, New York (2013); Terry Adkins: Recital, Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery, Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY (2012, traveling); Meteor Stream, American Academy in Rome (2009); Black Beethoven, Beard Gallery, Wheaton College, Norton, MA (2005); Sanctuary, Eastern State Penitentiary, Philadelphia (2003); Greater Deeps, Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art, Winston-Salem, NC (2001); Relay Hymn, Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia (1999); AfterFlame, Indianapolis Museum of Art (1999); Muffled Drums, P.P.O.W. Gallery, New York (1998); Temporary Hours, SculptureCenter, New York (1997); Firmament RHA, Whitney Museum of American Art at Philip Morris, New York (1995); Visionary Recital, Hammonds House Museum and Resource Center of African American Art, Atlanta (1995); Anthem, Weatherspoon Gallery, University of North Carolina, Greensboro (1993); and The Sihl, Projekt Binz 39, Zurich (1986).
He participated in such group exhibitions as The Freedom Principle: Experiments in Art and Music, 1965 to Now, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, IL (forthcoming, 2015); Prospect.3: Notes for Now, Prospect New Orleans (2014); Whitney Biennial, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY (2014); Intense Proximity, Art as Network, La Triennale, Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2012); True North, Anchorage Museum, Alaska (2012); Museum as Hub: Alpha’s Bet Is Not Over Yet!, New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York (2011); The Vagabond Can’t Draw—Spazi Aperti, Accademia di Romania, Rome (2010); NeoHooDoo: Art for a Forgotten Faith, Menil Collection, Houston (2008, traveling); Thunderbolt Special: The Great Electric Show and Dance, Project Row Houses, Houston (2008); Ensemble, Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia (2007); Double Consciousness: Black Conceptual Art since 1970, Contemporary Arts Museum Houston (2005); Open House: Working in Brooklyn, Brooklyn Museum (2004); Red, Black, and Green, The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York (2001); Passages: Contemporary Art in Transition, Miami Art Museum (2000); Seeing Jazz, International Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC (1997); Other Bloods, Painted Bride Art Center, Philadelphia (1996, traveling); . . . It’s How You Play the Game, Exit Art, New York (1994); Western Artists / African Art, Museum for African Art, New York (1994); Next Generation: Southern Black Aesthetic, Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art, Winston-Salem, NC (1992); Cadences: Icon and Abstraction in Context, New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York (1991); The Blues Aesthetic, Washington Project for the Arts, Washington, DC (1990); Pillar to Post, Kenkeleba House, New York (1989); In the Tropics, Longwood Arts Project, New York (1986); Dimensions and Directions, Mississippi Museum of Art, Jackson (1980); Alternatives by Black Artists, Washington Project for the Arts, Washington, DC (1980).
