Max L Adams is a practicing artist from the American Midwest. He spent his formative years between Detroit and Chicago's metropolitan areas where he completed studies in fine arts and crafts. He later apprenticed within the Leach studio tradition at East Fork pottery, located in Asheville, North Carolina.

Max's fine art practice is informed by these same craft sensibilities. A career in ceramics manufacturing has emphasized a concern for volume and form, the mark of the hand, consistency, and rigorous attention to detail. This technical refinement allows for the broader articulation of his artistic vision, whether in sculpture, illustration, or digital design. He explores both figurative and abstract idioms alike.

Systems, patterns, and typologies underpin his creative investigations, especially mechanics of motion and time. His compositions are reiterative; his compositions are sequential. Rather than delineating the movement of the solitary figure, Max is drawn toward broader social choreographies—the body politic in motion.

These methods are part of a continued interrogation of the art historical canon—its motifs and archetypes. His stylistic register shifts as he dialogues with a variety of artistic movements. He is particularly drawn to the Spanish masters, American minimalism, comic books and animation.

He currently resides in London after completing an MFA program at the Royal College of Art.

CV

Education

2023—2024. Royal College of Art — London, England • Master of Fine Arts: Arts and Humanities
2011—2015. Wheaton College — Wheaton, IL • Bachelor of Arts: Sculpture and Ceramics

Exhibitions

2025. Momentum, Galleria Objets — London, England
Drawing Lapland, Gallery Napa — Rovaniemi, Finland
The Graduate Art Show: Juried Exhibition, Vanner Gallery — Salisbury, UK
2024—2025. Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize 2024: Juried Exhibition and Traveling Show;
Trinity Buoy Wharf — London, England / Salisbury Museum — Salisbury, England
Falmouth Art Gallery — Falmouth, England / Drawing Projects UK — Dundee, Scotland
Manchester Waterside Gallery — Manchester, England
• First Prize - Out of Round: An Abbreviated Outline of British Studio Pottery
2024. Royal College of Art: MFA Exhibition, Battersea Campus — London, England
Completion in Motion, Safehouse 2, Peckham — London, England
Finding Place, Ancient Priors — Crawley, England
The Summer Exhibition, Crawley Library — Crawley, England
2018. Ekphrasis, Cassilhaus Gallery — Chapel Hill, NC
After Hours, East Fork Pottery — Asheville, NC
2015. Art Prize 2015: Arts Festival — Grand Rapids, MI
2014. Wheaton College: Nonword and Upward, Juried Exhibition, Adams Hall — Wheaton, IL
• Faculty Choice Award: Down There • President’s Art Commission for Excellence in Art

Solo Exhibitions

2019. Sequential Still Lifes, Buswell Library — Wheaton, IL
2015. Diamond In the Ruff, Hansen Gallery — Wheaton, IL

Publications

2024. Exhibition Catalog: Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize 2024, Drawing Projects UK — Trowbridge, England
2022. To Call Magazine, no. 16: Crises, PSW Gallery — Rostock, Germany

Commissions

2022. Convinced Friend, Band—Providence, RI • Convinced Friend, Album Cover Art • Spotify Canvas Videos: Safeway, Taken Apart, White Collar
2020. David Swick, Musician — Portland, OR • Pond Music Video
2017—2019. East Fork Pottery — Asheville, NC • Web Design, Merchandise, Store Displays
2016. John Kallen, Musician — New York, NY • Untitled Album Cover Art

Industrial Arts Practice

2024—2025. Sofia Ceramics — London, England • Systems Engineer and Production Lead
2016—2020. East Fork Pottery — Asheville, NC • Glaze Lead and Production Potter
2018. Roots + Wings School of Arts and Design — Asheville, NC • Visiting Lecturer
2015—2016. Michigan Art Center — Garden City, MI • Ceramics Technician
2014—2015. Wheaton College — Wheaton, IL
• Adams Hall Studio Technician: Woodshop & Kiln Room

Apprenticeships

2016. Alex Matisse & John Vigeland — Asheville, NC • East Fork Pottery — Asheville, NC
2014. David JP Hooker — Wheaton, IL • Borderline, Louisiana College — Pineville, LA
2011. Chris Dean — Ferndale, MI • Gold Will Stay, OSU Science Center — Corvallis, OR