P·P·O·W is pleased to present Holes, Adam Putnam’s fourth solo exhibition with the gallery. Through the building up of imagery by means of photography, drawing, sculpture, film, and performance, Adam Putnam continues an ongoing exploration of the boundaries between architecture, nature, the physical and the internal self, often using one as a stand in for the other.

A single, hand-carved wooden finger beckons the viewer toward a labyrinth of 365 “visualizations.” Initiated during the long months of lockdown, this mass of miniature drawings takes on an elusive arrangement, like an archaic diagram of the unconscious mind, with patterns emerging and dissolving as the visitor weaves through the space. Accompanying this accumulation are a new series of drawings and photographs, depicting architectural inversions and other implements such as a crumbling brick column and a rusty sword.

The labyrinth ultimately leads to a shadowy monolith vibrating with light, smoke and bubbles. Based on a 2022 site- specific, multi-sensory work commissioned in response to the experiential interests and preferences of a small group of people with Profound Mental and Learning Disabilities (PMLD) living in Midlothian, Scotland, the tower, which can be viewed alternately as a lighthouse, clocktower, steeple and sundial, aims to connect through touch, scent, light and sound. As we enter a post-pandemic world, Holes offers an opportunity for collective experience and contemplation of the otherworldliness imbedded in the everyday.

Throughout the duration of the exhibition, Putnam will be at the gallery doing tarot readings for visitors using a hand- made deck of cards.

Adam Putnam’s (b. 1973) work has been the subject of solo exhibitions at P·P·O·W, New York, NY; Kunstverein Munchen, Munich, Germany; Locust Projects, Miami, FL; and Andrew Kreps, New York, NY, among others. His work has been featured in group exhibitions including Human Threads, Tramway, Glasgow, Scotland; Interior Scroll or What I Did on My Vacation, organized by Soft Network, Broadway Gallery, New York, NY; Drawing 2020, Gladstone Gallery, New York, NY; Rockaway!, MoMA PS1, New York, NY; Paper, Artists Space, New York, NY; Whitney Biennial 2008, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY; Busan Biennale 2008, Busan, South Korea; 2nd Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art, Moscow, Russia; and The Plain of Heaven, curated by Peter Eleey, Creative Time & The Highline, New York, NY. In 2015, he curated Everything Must Go, a solo exhibition of works by Martin Wong at P·P·O·W and in 2007, he co-curated Blow Both of Us with Shannon Ebner at Participant Inc, New York, NY. Putnam is the co-editor of the photo book imprint entitled ASMR4.

Exhibition Date: January 20 – February 18, 2023

Location: PPOW Gallery 

392 Broadway 

New York, NY 10013

Hours: Tuesday - Saturday, 10am - 6 pm  

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