Adam Handler’s new exhibition at Artelli – the multidimensional art space at Cotai’s City of Dreams resort – is the American artist’s first exhibition in Macao and his largest solo show in Asia to date.
“This exhibition marks a few firsts for me – it’s my first time doing digital art and art installations. It’s also going to be my first time live painting, which is slightly nerve-wracking,” Handler, 37, told Macao News. He was speaking ahead of the official opening last Thursday, when he took guests on a tour of the show before working on a canvas set up in a recreation of his home studio.
[See more: The 34th Macao Arts Festival kicks off in May]
Handler was born in 1986 in New York City and raised on Long Island. “My childhood was that of a classic American kid growing up in the suburbs in the ‘90s, and a lot of those influences worked their way into my work,” he said.
Among his most important influences were his grandparents, who were picture framers. “They made frames mostly for classic artworks and collaborated with New York galleries. I grew up surrounded by art, as my brother and I used to go to their workshop after school. I felt comfortable around art.”
That much is evident in the vibrant paintings, sculptures, installations and digital art videos – on floor to ceiling screens – presently on display throughout Artelli, with all pieces created specially for the exhibition. The work is whimsical, with ghouls and UFO abductions making recurrent appearances.
“As my grandparents started to get older and I lost some of them, I started to experience crushing anxiety and art was a way of dealing with those thoughts I had in my head,” Handler told Macao News, explaining that he hit upon the depictions of spectres and aliens in his twenties, as representations of mortality and what lies beyond.
“If you look at the ghosts and the UFOs, they’re not threatening … That’s the kind of relationship [with mortality] I continue to strive for,” he told Macao News. “As time passed and I grew and became a father of two boys, the ghosts gained a new meaning.” They’re now, he says, “a reminder to live.”
Titled Always Near You, Always, the exhibition is a reflection of his main source of inspiration: his family. “I wanted to do a title that was authentic to my work. My work is about love, family and those relationships because, really, in the end, it’s the most important thing for me.”
Adam Handler’s exhibition is on at Artelli until 23 April. Click here for more information.
