2025 update
third solo show — This Is Post-Theory Art
may 16 - june 28 at engage projects gallery chicago
overview
adam daley wilson (1971, US) is a conceptual artist. he lives and works in his hallway studio in portland maine.
represented by engage projects, a conceptual art gallery in chicago, since 2020.
both solo shows have been artforum magazine ‘must see’ in chicago.
recently listed a worldwide top 100 artist in postconceptualism, postminimalism, text-based art, and activist art.
critics: “profound and ambiguous”; “his writings are as interesting as his paintings”; “it is rare that one encounters [work] with such depth . . . [daley wilson] . . . brings a complexity and gravitas to his work that is too often lacking in contemporary art.”
the work arises from heightened electrical, chemical, and neural activity in his frontal lobes.
it is due to bipolar 1, his mental illness. it had onset in 2000.
it causes unique logic, emotion, and relational perceptions about things not commonly connected.
the work is informed by, but not about, his illness.
it started out of the blue, when his psychiatrist adjusted his medications, a decade ago at age 42.
he is a self-taught artist with non-art degrees from the university of pennsylvania and stanford law.
his next solo show, This Is Post-Theory Art, is may 16 - june 28 at engage projects gallery chicago.
please scroll down for more details about the art, the art practice, and the art theories behind it.
practice areas
oil painting — large-scale inscribed paintings / inscription paintings
oil painting — artist’s inscriptions on original / appropriated images
oil painting — new cave paintings; ancient writing paintings
video — inscribed moving images
installation — inscribed walls
placed document — plain text performance placed in courts
systems — writing / language / thought
theory — post-theory art
cv + artist statement + press — please contact engage projects gallery chicago.
2024 panel discussion, Stanford Law School, SLS 1999, Stanford California / Palo Alto California.
career to date
3 solo shows, 7 group shows, 3 art fairs since 2017 — as of end 2025.
the gallery places two to three pieces in established collections each year, including in New York, Los Angeles, London, Paris, Miami, Chicago, and other locations.
more career metrics below
2024 updates
artforum — ‘must see’ chicago — first two solo shows 2021 and 2023
mousse magazine (italy) — selected best shows aligned with expo chicago 2023
SSRN published article — art theory of post-theory art — ssrn.com
more information follows the images from first two solo shows (2021, 2023).
about the gallery
ENGAGE Projects is a commercial gallery in Chicago with an international reputation in multidisciplinary conceptual art (painting, photography, video, installation, sculpture).
the gallery currently represents about twenty artists from a dozen countries + continents.
gallery artists have exhibited at The Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Guggenheim Museum, the Whitney Museum, The Tate Modern, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, The New Museum, the Brooklyn Museum, the Museum of Contemporary Art of Chicago, and elsewhere.
about the studio
i live and work in my studio. it’s in portland maine. i use my hallway. it’s 27 feet long and 3 feet wide.
scale
almost all work is large scale —- ~ 5 x 5 ft, ~ 8 x 5 ft, ~ 10 x 5 ft. some works are smaller, and works on paper are ~ 18 x 24 in.
some artists i’ve shown with
since representation in 2020 i’ve appeared in shows with Alec Soth, Alberto Aguilar, Nick Cave, Bob Faust, Alejandro Figueredo Diaz-Perera, Chris Larson, David Leggett, Derrick Woods-Morrow, Edra Soto, Xie Hongdong, Hasan Elahi, Jovan C. Speller, Jean Alexander Frater, Sharon Louden, Morgan, and Nick Albertson, among others.
backstory
as the art career develops the law career is winding down. i practiced in the areas of antitrust, intellectual property, constitutional, and appellate law for almost 30 years, including at leading international law firms based in DC, SF, and LA, with traditional degrees from the University of Pennsylvania and Stanford Law. I’ve also practiced disability rights law and in areas relating to mental illness stigma advocacy.
Preview 2024-2025 — first in an anticipated series — New Cave Painting No. 12 (This Is Art In Theory No. 1) … May 2024 … oil, enamel, charcoal, and varnish on canvas … 80 in x 60 in … ~ 7.5 ft x 5 ft … substantive details pending mid-2024.
I Am Not Yours (Conceptual Self-Portrait No. 6, Artwork to Viewer) … oil on canvas … 72 in x 60 in … ~ 7 ft x 5 ft … more details pending 2025.
Work in progress, ~ 8 x 5 ft ~ for Third Solo Show, May 16 - June 28, 2025, Engage Projects Gallery Chicago.
Preview 2025 — Even In Eythymia … installation ~ 12 x 36 ft … more details pending 2025.
contact
engage projects gallery chicago — jennifer armetta, director — jennifer@engage-projects.com
adam.daley.wilson@gmail.com — 207-699-9957
Selected Press and Publications
Second solo show featured in Mousse Magazine (Italy) in its “curated roundup of the best contemporary art exhibitions and events held by galleries, museums, and institutions in town during [EXPO Chicago 2023],” 4/10/23
Second solo show on Artforum’s must see list, Chicago, 2023
First solo show on Artforum’s must see list, Chicago, 2021
First solo show reviewed by art critic Michel Ségard in New Art Examiner, March 2021
NBC New Center Maine features, 2/16/21 and 2/23/21
Conceptual Theory Art as a Method for Interdisciplinary Research, Hypothesis, and Critical Analysis Both Within and Beyond Traditional Western Social Sciences (August 01, 2024). Available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4913371
Selected Post-Theory Performance Pieces and Happenings
If You Let Yourself Think About It (Theory Art Piece 1). Artist’s physical act of placing a VARA-qualifying text-based visual artwork, about a social justice legal theory of first impression in the United States, within the Supreme Court of a State, causing the justices to be both audience and actors in a happening about journalism as art and legal theory as art, 2023-2024.
Theory As Art, Journalism As Art, Law As Art (Theory Art Pieces 2, 3, 4). Ongoing placements of VARA-qualifying text artworks within judicial branches and courts, each causing happenings within courts as to the art of journalism, the art of law, and theory as art, 2023-2026.
Look At What We Have Created II. Live creation of personal writing system painting and happening with roughly 20 viewer-participants, second solo show, during EXPO Chicago, 2023.
Do You Own Conceptual Ownership? 4-day performance with video, installation, tangible art ownership experiment, and conceptual social justice ownership experiment. Guest artist project by invitation. The Other Art Fair New York, Nov. 8-11, 2018.
Some Feelings And Thoughts I’ll Have Any Second. 4-day performance with installation and conceptual video. The Other Art Fair New York, Nov. 18-22, 2017.
Look At What We Have Created. 12.25-hour performance walk through New York City, overnight, playing 6 tracks of audio from artist’s backpack, creating layers of words from academics personally known by the artist discussing issues from mass incarceration to LGBTQ+ rights, until the overlapping audio layers rendered the spoken words meaningless, Nov. 22-23, 2017.
Closing night, April 2023 solo show aligned with EXPO Chicago.
Most recent installation, US collection, spring 2024.
Artist talk with artist Kelly Matthews, Chicago, May 2023.
Most recent published art theory research paper, fall 2024.
CV
Updated December 2024
Adam Daley Wilson
he/him. Lives and works in Portland Maine. Represented by ENGAGE Projects since 2020.
Solo Exhibitions
2025
Announced: This Is Post-Theory Art. (Chicago, Engage Projects Gallery, May 16 - June 28, 2025).
2023
This Is Text Based Art. (Chicago, Engage Projects Gallery, April 14 – May 26 2023). Artforum ‘Must See’ in Chicago.
2021
Already Gone. (Chicago, Aspect/Ratio Projects (now Engage Projects), February 6 – March 13, 2021). Artforum ‘Must See.’
Group Exhibitions
2024
Ikigai. (Chicago, Engage Projects Gallery, November 8, 2024 - January 4, 2025)
2022
Portland Debuts. (Portland Maine, Cove Street Arts, September 29 – November 19, 2022)
2022
Arts and Conversations. (West Palm Beach, Arts & Conversations Gallery, February 9 – February 28, 2022)
2021
VAA 37th Juried Exhibition (Houston, Visual Arts Alliance, August 25 – September 25, 2021)
2020
Fever Dream. (Chicago, Aspect/Ratio Projects, December 5, 2020 – January 16 2021)
Juried Art Fairs
2018
The Other Art Fair New York (as invited guest artist) (New York, November 8 – 11, 2018)
2017
The Other Art Fair London
The Other Art Fair New York
Artist Talks
2024
Four-person joint program (Stanford Law School)
2023
Two-artist joint program (Chicago)
2022
Two-artist joint program (West Palm Beach)
2021
Eight-artist joint program (Chicago)
Reviews, Press, Notable
2024
First published paper on art theory and philosophy of art (Social Science Research Network, August 1, 2024).
2024
Artfacts (Berlin) raking of top 5% and top 10% (US / Global) of over 1m gallery represented artists.
2024
Artfacts ranking of top 1% for artists associated with post-conceptualism, postminimalism, text-based art, and activist art.
2023
Second solo show named ‘must see’ in Chicago by Artforum.
2023
Second solo show named one of the ‘best contemporary art exhibitions’ aligned with EXPO Chicago 2023.
2021
First solo show selected for critical review, New Art Examiner, Chicago.
2021
First solo show named ‘must see’ in Chicago by Artforum.
2021
NBC New Center Maine press coverage of first solo show in relation to mental illness stigma advocacy.
2021
Two works selected, honorable mentions, jurist Dr. Harry Cooper, Head of Modern Art, National Gallery, Washington, DC.
2019
Anonymous nomination, Spannocchia Artist Residency (Sienna Italy)
2018
Invited Guest Artist, The Other Art Fair (New York)
2017
You Only Live Once In American Violence, Saatchi Art Spring 2017 Catalog, New Media ink on paper.
2016
Los Angeles Times appearance (artwork with collector), March 13, 2016.
Collections
Private and corporate collections including in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, London, Paris, Miami.
Education
University of Pennsylvania, B.A. Stanford Law School, J.D.
Public and Government Service
Informal mentoring, young artists, US and international, 2018-present. Board of Trustees, Institute for Doctoral Studies in the Visual Arts, 2019-2020. Board, Yellow Tulip Project, mental illness stigma advocacy, 2020-2023. State court mediator, 2009-2013. Disability rights legal advocacy, 2014-2017. Pro bono legal counseling for artists and creative non-profits regarding intellectual property rights and artist moral rights, 2018-present. Pro bono constitutional law advocacy for non-profits, including First Amendment rights, 2000-2004. Judicial Law Clerk, US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, Philadelphia, 2004-2006.
— Updated December 2024.
You Chose To Misremember So We Have Moved On, Oil Stick on Canvas, 84 x 56 in, 213.4 x 142.2 cm, 2021, sold.
Art Talk, including about post-theory art and art theory, Stanford Law School, Stanford University, Palo Alto California, October 2024
some art history / art theory research and writing
art theory — conceptual theory art + post-theory art
art theory — post-theory art in relation to postconceptualism and postminimalism
draft research — global histories + global theories of text art — .pdf or webpage
some additional information
Adam Daley Wilson is also an appellate lawyer with a JD from Stanford Law School and a public interest lawyer who works to end the exploitation of mental illness stigma by attorneys. His advocacy regarding mental illness stigma exploitation dates to a first installation and performance art piece at The Other Art Fair in New York City in 2017 and also includes print and television coverage.
In 2024 and 2025 Daley Wilson was recognized by Europe-based Artfacts as one of the top 100 living artists practicing activist art in the areas of text-based art, post-conceptual art, and post-minimalism.
Recent activist work, as both an artist and a lawyer, includes developing legal theories of first impression about constitutional rights and mental illness; and then filing complaints in courts about the public issue of mental illness exploitation by attorneys in the legal system. The work is both art activism and legal activism. Short videos relating to a current project are: a, b, c, d, e.
Recent art theory work includes: Daley Wilson, Adam, Conceptual Theory Art as a Method for Interdisciplinary Research, Hypothesis, and Critical Analysis Both Within and Beyond Traditional Western Social Sciences (August 01, 2024). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4913371.
His art portfolio site is here.
Updated March 2025.