My paintings feature wide-open panoramic spaces and horizons with clear views of turbulent skies. I am interested in the universal human need to stare at a horizon and daydream about what lies beyond in the infinity of space.
Standing in one place and projecting our imagination into another state of being that is beyond the horizon and into the “distance" offers us an immeasurable introspective pleasure. Horizons are metaphors for future discoveries and possibilities. Horizons and distance are gateways to the “faraway”—a daydreamed future space and time--and they are a constant feature of western romantic landscape art.
My paintings are not about looking back to some golden past, or about seeking another ideal place as “home.” I offer an ambiguous vision. My paintings can be seen as pleasurable meditations on land, sea, and sky, but they also may spark uncertainty and nostalgia about our changing environments in a starkly different and warmer world.
Born: Columbus OH Resides: Vashon Island WA
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2021 Distancing: Imagination and the Faraway, Zolla/Lieberman Gallery, Chicago IL
2020 Seattle Art Fair Deconstructed, Woodside/Braseth Gallery, Seattle WA
Light Horizons, Woodside/Braseth Gallery, Seattle WA
2019 New Small Works, Gail Severn Gallery, Ketchum ID
Moment in Time, Anne Loucks Gallery, Glencoe IL
2018 Wellspring, Woodside/Braseth Gallery, Seattle WA
2017 Fathom, Elizabeth Leach Gallery, Portland OR
Still Shores, Anne Loucks Gallery, Glencoe IL
2016 Victoria Adams: New Works, Gail Severn Gallery, Ketchum ID
2015 Weather and Water, Arden Gallery, Boston MA
2014 Skies for a New Frontier, Gail Severn Gallery, Ketchum ID
Reflect, Woodside/Braseth Gallery, Seattle
2012 Sky Journal, Woodside/Braseth Gallery, Seattle
2011 New Paintings, Arden Gallery, Boston MA
2010 Where Sky Meets Earth: The Luminous Landscapes of Victoria Adams, Tacoma Art Museum, Northwest Perspectives Series (catalogue available)
Deep Blue Day, Woodside/Braseth Gallery, Seattle WA
Written on the Sky, Gail Severn Gallery, Ketchum ID
2009 Vantage, Woodside/Braseth Gallery, Seattle WA
Lux Art Institute, Encinitas CA (with Artist’s Residency)
Museum of Northwest Art, La Conner WA
2008 Updraft, Gail Severn Gallery, Ketchum ID
Recent Landscapes, Arden Gallery, Boston MA
2006 Refugia, Gail Severn Gallery, Ketchum ID
Weather Shift, Winston Wachter Fine Art, Seattle WA
2005 Natural Order, Zolla/Lieberman Gallery, Chicago IL
The Still Point, Gail Severn Gallery, Ketchum ID
2004 Depths and Horizons, Winston Wächter Fine Art, Seattle WA
2003 Earth and Air, Gail Severn Gallery, Ketchum ID
2002 Recent Landscapes. Winston Wächter Fine Art, Seattle WA
2001 New Paintings. Zolla/Lieberman Gallery, Chicago IL
Terrains. Gail Severn Gallery, Ketchum ID
2000 Elizabeth Leach Gallery, Portland OR
Gail Severn Gallery, Ketchum ID
1999 Winston Wächter Mayer Fine Art, New York NY
Gail Severn Gallery, Ketchum ID
1998 Maryhill Museum of Art, Goldendale WA
Grover/Thurston Gallery, Seattle WA
1997 Elizabeth Leach Gallery, Portland OR
1996 Grover/Thurston Gallery, Seattle WA
Gail Severn Gallery, Ketchum ID
1995 Elizabeth Leach Gallery, Portland OR
1994 Grover/Thurston Gallery, Seattle WA
1992 Grover/Thurston Gallery, Seattle WA
1990 Lisa Harris Gallery, Seattle WA
Sheila Nussbaum Gallery, Millburn NJ
1986 Lisa Harris Gallery, Seattle WA
Brush Art Gallery, St. Lawrence University, Canton NY
1984 Albion College, Albion MI
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2021 60th Annual Summer Group Exhibition, Woodside Braseth Gallery, Seattle WA
Painting Deconstructed: Selections from the Northwest Collection, Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma WA
The Notable Collection, Vashon Center for the Arts, Vashon WA
2020 Conversations Between Collections, Whatcom Museum of Art, Bellingham WA
Another View, Gail Severn Gallery, Ketchum ID
Honoring Out Landscape, Gail Severn Gallery, Ketchum ID
Dealer’s Choice, Woodside/Braseth Gallery, Seattle WA
Miniature Invitational, Vashon Center for the Arts, Vashon WA
2019 54th Annual Holiday Group Exhibition, Woodside/Braseth Gallery, Seattle WA
Under the Influence: Contemporary Artists and the Masters Who Inspire Them, Somerville Manning Gallery, Greenville DE
Seattle Art Fair, Woodside/Braseth Gallery and Gail Severn Gallery
2018 Seattle Art Fair, Woodside/Braseth Gallery and Gail Severn Gallery
Honoring Our Landscape VI, Gail Severn Gallery, Ketchum ID
2017 ExpoChicago, Zolla/Lieberman Gallery
Seattle Art Fair, Woodside/Braseth Gallery and Gail Severn Gallery
2016 Seattle Art Fair, Woodside/Braseth Gallery and Gail Severn Gallery
Landscape! Galerie de Bellefeuille, Montreal, Quebec
Honoring Our Landscape V, Gail Severn Gallery, Ketchum ID
Gallery Artists, Woodside/Braseth Gallery, Seattle WA
2015 Miami Basel Art Fair, Zolla/Lieberman Gallery, Chicago IL
Honoring Our Landscape IV, Gail Severn Gallery, Ketchum ID
Weather and Water: New Landscapes, Arden Gallery, Boston MA
San Francisco Art Market, Gail Severn Gallery
Seattle Art Fair, Woodside/Braseth Gallery, Seattle WA
2014 Preview 2015, Gail Severn Gallery, Ketchum ID
Honoring Our Landscape III, Gail Severn Gallery, Ketchum ID
2013 Miami Basel Art Fair, Zolla/Lieberman Gallery, Chicago
Best of the Northwest: Selected Works from the Permanent Collection, Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma WA
Atmospheric Weather: New Acquisitions, Seattle Public Utilities Collection, Seattle, WA
Expo Chicago 2013, Zolla/Lieberman Gallery, Chicago
2012 25th Anniversary Exhibition, Arden Gallery, Boston MA
2011 Study in Blue, Museum of Northwest Art, La Conner WA
30th Anniversary Exhibition, Elizabeth Leach Gallery, Portland OR
New Artists, Forre Fine Art, Aspen CO
Sense of Place XI, Gail Severn Gallery, Ketchum ID
2010 New Dehli 2010, Art in Embassies Program, US State Department, Wash. D.C.
Chicago Art Fair, Zolla/Lieberman Gallery, Chicago
2009 Dreaming: Selections from the Permanent Collection, Museum of Northwest Art
Landscapes, Galerie de Bellefeuille, Montreal, Quebec
Selected Invitational, Gage Academy of Art, Seattle WA
2008 Chicago Art Fair, Zolla/Lieberman Gallery, Chicago IL
Seeds of Compassion, Friesen Fine Art, Seattle WA
Art Palm Beach, Galerie de Bellefeuille, Montreal, Quebec
2007 Landscapes, Galerie de Bellefeuille, Montreal, Quebec
US Artists, Philadelphia PA, Somerville/Manning Gallery, Greenville DE
Art Toronto, Galerie de Bellefeuille, Montreal, Quebec
The 8th Northwest Biennial, Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma WA
2006 Art Toronto, Galerie de Bellefeuille, Montreal, Quebec
Art 2006, Galerie de Bellefeuille, Montreal, Quebec
8th Annual Realism Invitational, Jenkins Johnson Gallery, San Francisco CA
Landscapes Real & Imagined, David Klein Gallery, Birmingham MI
2005 North by Northwest, Winston Wachter Fine Art, New York
8 Artists from the Northwest, Winston Wächter Fine Art, Seattle
2004 A Sense of Place, Tacoma Art Museum. Tacoma WA
Second Nature, Winston Wachter Fine Art, Seattle
Chicago Art Fair, Zolla/Lieberman Gallery, Chicago IL
The Grand View: From Bierstadt to Brophy, Museum of Northwest Art, La Conner WA
Lewis and Clark Territory: Contemporary Artists Revisit Place, Race, and Memory, Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma WA, (catalog), traveling to:
Yellowstone Art Museum, Billings MT; Moore College of Art and Design, Phil. PA
Roberta Lieberman: A Sharp Eye: An Art Dealer's 40 Year Journey, Evanston Art Center, Evanston IL
There, There: Landscape Now, Zolla/Lieberman Gallery, Chicago IL
2003 A Sofa Underneath a Painting, Western Gallery, Western Washington University, Bellingham WA
Building Tradition: Gifts in Honor of the Northwest Art Collection, Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma WA (catalog)
2002 ANA 31, Holter Museum of Art, Helena MT
Chicago Art Fair, Chicago IL, Zolla/Lieberman Gallery
2001 Northwest Views: Selections from the Safeco Collection, Frye Art Museum, Seattle WA
Chicago Art Fair, Chicago IL, Winston Wächter Mayer Fine Art and Zolla/Lieberman
Gallery Artists, Zolla/Lieberman Gallery, Chicago IL
2000 Landscape Dialogue: The Henry Responds to Viewers, Henry Art Gallery, University of Washington, Seattle WA
San Francisco International Art Exhibition, San Francisco CA, Winston Wächter Mayer Fine Art and Elizabeth Leach Gallery
Shifting Ground: Transformed Views of the American Landscape, Henry Art Gallery, University of Washington, Seattle WA
The American Landscape, Winston Wächter Fine Art, Seattle WA
Reinventing Landscape, Gail Severn Gallery, Ketchum ID
1999 San Francisco International Art Exhibition, San Francisco CA, Elizabeth Leach Gallery
Summer '99, Winston Wächter Mayer Fine Art, New York NY
Sense of Place, Gail Severn Gallery, Ketchum ID
From Here to the Horizon: Artists of the Rural Landscape, Whatcom Museum of History and Art, Bellingham WA
1998 Movements of Grace: Spirit in the American Landscape, Winston Wächter Fine Art, New York NY
San Francisco International Art Exhibition, San Francisco CA
1997 True Art: Northwest Biennial, Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma WA
Art Santa Fe International Art Fair, Santa Fe NM, Elizabeth Leach Gallery
Gail Severn Gallery, Ketchum ID
Coplan Gallery, Boca Raton FL
Seattle Art Fair, Seattle WA, Gail Severn Gallery and Elizabeth Leach Gallery
1996 Twenty-Fifth Anniversary Exhibit, Elizabeth Leach Gallery, Portland OR
Open Skies, University of Oregon Museum of Art, Eugene OR
Chicago Art Fair, Chicago IL, Elizabeth Leach Gallery
1995 Seattle Art Fair, Seattle WA, Gail Severn Gallery and Elizabeth Leach Gallery
Group Exhibition, Gail Severn Gallery, Ketchum ID
New Artists, Ledbetter/Lusk Gallery, Memphis TN
The Land: Northwest Biennial, Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma WA
Three Landscape Painters: Victoria Adams, James Lavadour, David Kroll, Grover/Thurston Gallery, Seattle WA
Seattle Art Fair, Seattle WA, Gail Severn Gallery and Grover/Thurston Gallery
Triton Contemporary Art Fair, San Francisco CA, Gail Severn Gallery
1994 New Landscapes: West Coast, Elizabeth Leach Gallery, Portland OR
Gail Severn Gallery, Ketchum ID.
Sense of Place, Grover/Thurston Gallery, Seattle WA
1993 New Landscape, Elizabeth Leach Gallery, Portland OR
Group Exhibition, Grover/Thurston Gallery, Seattle WA
1991 American Art in Embassies Program, Lima Peru
1989 NW International Art Exhibition, Whatcom Museum of History and Art, Bellingham WA
1987 Joint Faculty Exhibit, State University of New York, Potsdam NY
1985 Pacific States Printmakers, University of Hawaii, Hilo HI
1983 Kittredge Gallery, University of Puget Sound, Tacoma WA
1980 Drawing Relationships with Prints, Davidson Gallery, Seattle WA
RESIDENCIES
2009 Lux Art Institute, Encinitas CA (with solo exhibition)
2002 Experimental Workshop, Emeryville CA
2000 Experimental Workshop, Emeryville CA
SELECTED COLLECTIONS
Jordan Schnitzer Family Foundation, Portland OR
Arlington Club, Portland OR
Boise Art Museum, Boise ID
Seattle Public Utilities, Seattle WA
Harborview Medical Center, Seattle WA
Seattle University, Seattle WA
Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma WA
Museum of Northwest Art, La Conner WA
Grand Valley State University, Grand Rapids MI
Boeing Corporate Headquarters, Chicago IL
Allen Foundation for the Arts, Seattle WA
Western Washington University, Bellingham WA
U.S. Dept. of State, New Delhi, India
Art in Embassies Program, Lima, Peru and Delhi, India
Zymogenetics, Seattle WA
University Club, Portland OR
Port of Seattle, Seattle WA
City of Chicago, Chicago IL
Bank of America Corporation, Chicago IL and Seattle WA
FDIC, Chicago IL
US Bancorp, Portland OR
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor MI
Whatcom Community College, Bellingham WA
Washington State Public Schools, Seattle WA
Providence Hospital, Seattle WA
Swedish Hospital, Seattle WA
University of Washington Medical Center, Seattle WA
WRQ, Seattle WA
Kaiser Permanente, Portland OR
Collins Foundation, Portland OR
American Airlines, San Francisco CA
Caesars Palace, Las Vegas NV
PUBLICATIONS
2019 Howell, Christopher, The Grief of a Happy Life, University of WA Press, Pacific Northwest Poetry Series, dust jacket image
2018 “Victoria Adams: Imaginary Spaces,” American Art Collector, Jan.
2016 “Imagine Your Oasis, Then Read This,” Fine Art Today online, Fine Art Connoisseur, Dec.
2015 Brooker, Suzanne, The Elements of Landscape Oil Painting: Techniques for Rendering Sky, Terrain, Trees, and Water, Watson Guptill (paintings reproduced)
O'Hern, John, "Victoria Adams: An Elegy for Nature," American Art Collector, Feb.
2014 "Victoria Adams: Skies for a New Frontier," American Art Collector, July
2013 100 Artists of the Pacific Northwest, Schiffer Publications
Tacoma Art Museum, Selected Works from the Northwest Art Permanent Collection, NEA and Marquand Books
Best of the Northwest: Selected Works from the Tacoma Art Museum Collection
2012 Seattle Times, Arts and Entertainment Highlights, June 24, reproduction
2010 Hushka, Rock, “Magnificent Solitude,” Where Sky Meets Earth: The Luminous Landscapes of Victoria Adams” exhibition catalog essay, Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma WA
Bahr, Bob, American Artist, "Landscapes: From Top to Bottom," Nov., p. 20
Davis, Catherine Lee, “Saladino in Soho,” Veranda Magazine, Feb., p. 38
2009 Pincus, Robert, San Diego Union-Tribune, “Differing Visions,” May 7
2008 Leggio, Gail, American Arts Quarterly, Fall, “Art and Likeness: Realism in the Galleries”
Shaw, Reesey, Updraft, Gail Severn Gallery, Ketchum ID, catalogue essay
Rose, Joshua, American Art Collector, November, Arden Gallery Exhibit reviewed
2007 “Savannah Chic,” Traditional Home, Nov., pp. 198-203
Hushka, Rock, The 8th Northwest Biennial, Tacoma Art Museum, catalogue essay,
Rose, Joshua, American Art Collector, January, Gail Severn Gallery exhibit reviewed
2006 Rose, Joshua, American Art Collector, April, Winston Wachter Fine Art exhibit reviewed
2004 Sawahata, Lesa, "Gold Standard," Seattle Homes and Lifestyles, Feb., p. 60
Hushka, Rock, Building Tradition: Gifts in Honor of the Northwest Art Collection, catalogue essay, Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma WA
Hushka, Rock, "'Tis Nothing But What True Is: Traces of the Legacy of Lewis and Clark in Contemporary Art," Lewis and Clark Territory: Contemporary Artists Revisit Place, Race, and Memory, catalogue essay, Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma WA
2003 Metropolitan Home, July/August, p. 119
2002 Gangelhoff, Bonnie, "Up, Down, and All Around: Six Western Painters," Southwest Art, February
2001 Glowen, Ron, "Northwest Representational Art," Northwest Views: Selections from the Safeco Collection. Frye Art Museum, Seattle WA (exhibition catalog)
Hawkins, Margaret, exhibition review, Chicago Sun-Times, 12/14
Durr-Albert, Stacy, "Fantasy Island," Timber Homes Illustrated, October
Howard, Rhonda Lane, "Preserving Desire: Neo-Romantic Views," Victoria Adams: Terrains, Gail Severn Gallery, Ketchum ID (exhibition catalog)
Howard, Rhonda Lane, "New Frontiers: Secondhand Landscape," Shifting Ground: Transformed Views of the American Landscape, Henry Art Gallery, Seattle WA (catalog essay)
Johnson, Ken, "New and Noteworthy, Victoria Adams," New York Times, 6/25
1997 New American Painting, Pacific Coast Edition, Needham, MA: Open Studios Press. Juror: Clare Bell, Associate Curator of Contemporary Art, Guggenheim Museum
Women Artists, San Raphael, CA: Cedco Publishing Co.
1995 New American Painting, Western Edition, Needham, MA: Open Studios Press.
Juror: Charlotta Kotik, Curator of Contemporary Art, Brooklyn Museum
Updike, Robin, "The Land: Northwest Biennial, Tacoma Art Museum,” Seattle Times
Glowen, Ron, "The Land: Northwest Biennial, Tacoma Art Museum," Everett Herald
1991 Contemporary American Women Artists, San Raphael, CA: Cedco Publishing Company