Michael Adamson

Michael Adamson is the most highly accomplished Canadian abstract painter of his generation.

In advance of the American return to Abstraction, which featured painters such as Tomory Dodge and Joe Bradley, Adamson was recognized as an pioneering outlier working in new ways with the abandoned threads of modernism.

Pioneering the hybridization of late conceptualism and return to expression,

Adamson was the first Canadian to engage the emergent meta modern narrative in abstraction and remains at the vanguard of painting.

Artist Statement

''I am interested in teasing out the connections between seemingly disparate artists, such as the cave painters of Lasceaux and contemporary muralists like Katerina Grosse, or impressionist Claude Monet and serial abstractionist Pia Fries, in an attempt, not to level out painting, but to encourage cross fertilizations which, hopefully, will reinvigorate community and the appetites for the kind of nourishment found in good painting."

Painting Style

Michael Adamson is an artist with as much appeal globally as in his home county of Canada, where he is a beloved figure of the contemporary art scene. His expressive, joyous style is apparent in the physicality of his work where is love of both the practice and study of painting is evident in every piece he creates.

"The modern landscape is an invitation to look at everything."

With his skillful application of paint and considered yet uncompromising use of colour, he has crafted unique style which is internationally recognised, having successfully exhibited in London, Toyko, New York, Canada and the USA.

Exhibiting History

Michael Adamson is one of the most in demand artists for private commissions with works in collections in Switzerland, Hong Kong, France, Germany, Japan, Norway, USA, and the UK. Selected public and corporate collections include Sir Paul Smith, Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Royal Bank of Canada, Bank of Montreal and many more. Thompson's Gallery first encountered Michael at the Toronto Art Fair, and have been showing his works ever since with the number of collectors increasing every year.

Adamson has seen major success in solo exhibitions in the UK, Sweden and across Canada and has gained greater exposure in art fairs around the world, as well as in group exhibitions thorough his career.