AARRTT
DERRICK ADAMS: ‘BUOYANT’
Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg
By Aaron R. Fodiman
Contemporary artist Derrick Adams’ “Buoyant” series will be exhibited at the Museum
of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg for the artist’s first major solo museum exhibition in the
Southeast. Created from 2016-2019, the exhibit features minority men, women and
children as “floaters” who are enjoying life, while they joyfully lounge in water or rest
on novelty pool floats. Adams observed that images of black people at play are not the norm,
and it made him want them to see themselves through the lens of freedom, fun and leisure.
Floater 80 is a
self-portrait of
contemporary artist
Derrick Adams.
62 TAMPA BAY MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020