Joseph Adolphe

My work is really about two notions competing for attention. One is based on an idealism I have about the way I wish things were. The other is based on what I need to do in order to maintain that idealism. The paintings of messages floating in a sky over a landscape began really with a simple image I had in my mind. I didn’t know what these paintings were about in the beginning; I was just captivated by the image. As those paintings developed they became for me something so personal that I began to see them as gifts—messages--epiphanies that communicated an overwhelming sense of peace and encouragement. Contentment. They made me become more and more aware of the importance of dreaming, not in terms of escaping but in terms of living a fulfilling and rewarding life. They enkindled in me a deepening desire to be a good father, husband, teacher, and friend. They made me think that wonderful things are not only possible, but also inevitable and within my reach. They still do although it has become evident to me that to maintain those optimistic feelings a no small measure of persistence is required. Much like trying to keep a balloon afloat by continuous puffs of air. Anything of my work that has to do with still life carries with it something of this narrative, which brings me to the other facet of my work. Images of either animals or people who engage in any form of combat represent for me the other aspect of my work. The subjects are never painted while they are engaged in whatever contest is particular to them, rather they are in a state of anticipation of the contest at hand. Although it might be clear what the ensuing contest might be; the boxer waiting for a match, the bull waiting for the ring etc., they more often than not present an ideal specimen in top form ready to engage with any and all adversaries, both real and imaginary. The reality for these subjects is that in the end they will fall. They will all die. But perhaps falling in the ring is only a very small part of a larger narrative that speaks to something wonderful that exists, and even waits for us beyond our physical universe, which brings me back to the previous body of work…

Joseph Adolphe ARTWORKS

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Joseph Adolphe LATEST NEWS

18 October 2026

Joseph Adolphe

Joseph Adolphe gives familiar subjects an unusual presence through his expressive handling of paint. A garden can verge on abstraction, while a folded form suspended above a landscape acquires an{...}

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Joseph Adolphe EXHIBITIONS

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2024 Fischer Gallery, New Work, Ridgeland, MS.

2024 Pryor Fine Art, A Floating World, Atlanta, GA.

2022 Hugo Galerie, Symbols & Messages, New York, NY.

2021 Hugo Galerie, Perspectives, New York, NY.

2020 Hugo Galerie, Interventions, New York, NY.

2019 M Fine Arts Galerie, Premonitions, Boston, MA.

2019 Pryor Fine Art, Epiphanies, Atlanta, GA.

2018 Simon Breitbard Fine Art, 2 person show, In Depth, San Francisco, CA.

2017 M Fine Arts Galerie, Joseph Adolphe: Overflow, Boston, MA

2016 Gremillion Gallery, Joseph Adolphe: More Stories, Houston, TX

2014, Gremillion Gallery, Joseph Adolphe Paintings, Houston, TX

2014, Bertrand Delacroix Gallery, Messages, Memories & Dreams, New York, NY

2012, Bertrand Delacroix Gallery, Toro Bravo, New York, NY

2011, Kehler Liddell Gallery, New Paintings, New Haven, Connecticut

2010, West Rock Gallery, Paintings from Italy, New Haven, Connecticut

2009, Kehler Liddell Gallery, Affinities, New Haven, Connecticut

2008, Kehler Liddell Gallery, Deconstruction & Resurrection, New Haven, Connecticut

2005, Galerie Françoise, New Works: Figures, Baltimore, Maryland

2003, Galerie Françoise, Joseph Adolphe: Urban Landscapes, Baltimore, Maryland

2003, Gallery 119, Joseph Adolphe: Urban Landscapes: Brooklyn & Rome, Jackson, Mississippi

2003, The Object Image Gallery, New Paintings, Brooklyn, New York

2002, The Late Show, Rome: Paintings From the Eternal City, Kansas City, Missouri

2002, Pulmone Pulsante, Joseph Adolphe: Drawings 1993–2002, Rome, Italy

2002, The Late Show, Urban Landscapes-Brooklyn, Kansas City, Missouri

2002, North 6th Gallery, Joseph Adolphe: Drawings and Paintings, Brooklyn, New York

2001, Bogigian Gallery, Joseph Adolphe: Paintings, Chambersburg, Pennsylvania

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2025 Beyond The Surface, 4 person exhibition, Merritt Galleries.

2024 Pryor Fine Art, 2 person exhibition, Atlanta GA.

2023 Hugo Galerie, Winter Collective I, New York, NY.

2022 Hugo Galerie, Winter Collective I, New York, NY.

2021 M Fine Arts Galerie, Exposition Collective, Boston, MA.

2020 Hugo Galerie, Winter Collective II, New York, NY.

2020 M Fine Arts Galerie, Art We Love, Boston, MA.

2019 M Fine Arts Galerie, Winter Collective, Palm Beach, FL.

2019 Hugo Galerie, Winter Collective, New York, NY.

2018 M Fine Arts Galerie, Summer Collective, Boston, MA.

2017 M Fine Arts Galerie, Summer Collective, Boston, MA.

2016 M Fine Arts Galerie, Inaugural Group Exhibition, Boston, MA.

2016 Jenn Singer Gallery, Winter Salon, NYC

2015 Bertrand Delacroix Gallery, Summer Collective, NYC

2014 Newzones Gallery, G’ddy Up!, Calgary, AB

2014 Axelle Gallery, Winter Collective, Boston, MA

2013 The Art Directors Club, Round ZERO, NYC

2012 Bertrand Delacroix Gallery, NYC

2011, Jonathan Frost Gallery, New Artists Showcase, Rockland, Maine

2011, Norwalk College Gallery, Zoology 101, Norwalk, Connecticut

2010, A-Space Gallery @ West Cove Studios, Large Works Show, West Haven, Connecticut

2010, Fontbonne University Fine Arts Gallery, Figure Now, St. Louis, Missouri

2010, Kehler Liddell Gallery, Size Matters, New Haven, Connecticut

2009, Paper New England, Go Figure, Newspace Gallery, Manchester, Connecticut

2009, Paper New England, Current Connecticut, Artspace, Hartford, Connecticut

2009, Ct. Comm. on Culture & Tourism, Touring Connecticut, C.C.C.T Gallery, Hartford, Connecticut

2008, Kehler Liddell Gallery, Change, New Haven, Connecticut

2005, Delgado-Tomei Gallery, Figuratively Speaking, Brooklyn, New York

2005, NY Law School, Print: O.I.A. Group Show, New York, New York

2004–2005, Manhattan Graphics, Touring Group Show: Mono-prints, throughout India

2003–2005, Conversations, Touring Group Exhibition, Beginning in Baltimore, Maryland

Evergreen House, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland. Oct.2–Jan.23, 2004
Delaware Center for Contemporary Arts, Wilmington, Delaware. Feb. 6–May 23, 2004
University of Hartford, West Hartford, Connecticut. July 15–Aug. 20, 2004

2003, Galerie Françoise, Summer Group Show, Baltimore, Maryland

2002, The Object Image Gallery, Brooklyn Artists, Brooklyn, New York

2002, Gallery 119, The Self Portraits Show, Jackson, Mississippi