[Adam Gluskin](https://www.cohart.com/u/hayparlorart) is a self-taught artist based in the California Bay Area. Known for his playful, vibrant work in acrylic, spray paint, oil pastel, and mosaics from found materials, Adam’s art blends “figurative nonsense” with bold colors and shapes. Influenced by his mother’s crafts, his Jewish upbringing, and outsider art, Adam’s work reflects his personality, life experiences, and authentic creative process.

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##### Can you describe your artistic process? What materials and techniques do you typically use?

I can describe it poorly, if that helps. I usually get too stoned and doodle on my iPad until I like something enough to translate it into a physical piece. I find myself working in acrylic, spray paint and oil pastel these days. Usually all in the same piece. I also make mosaics from found materials. They’re pretty painstaking. 

##### What themes or concepts are you most passionate about exploring in your work?

I work in a few different styles and the themes definitely morph, but there are certain motifs that appear consistently. Houses, simple cars, aliens, some shapes. I find myself exploring new processes while relying on these motifs. I’m drawn to figurative nonsense and shapes and composition. Also, color. 

##### How do your personal experiences influence your art?

I think experiences shape personality and my personality is reflected in my work. Maybe that’s too obvious, but I think it's true. My experiences in life, major ups and downs, have made me pretty solid in who I am and my pieces are an extension of that. Artistic voice and whatnot. 

##### Who are some of your biggest artistic influences, and how have they shaped your practice?

I’m influenced by my mother, who is a craft maniac, and my Jewish upbringing with synagogues full of colorful art. Stained glass, Marc Chegall, childrens’ drawings – these are pretty easy to see in my work, I think. I love Picabia and Dr. Seuss and a slew of outsider artists. I’m not so interested in serious fine art as I am in authenticity, originality and use of color. 

##### What role does collaboration play in your work? Have you collaborated with other artists or disciplines?

So far, very little. I have some artist friends and I enjoy talking about art and going to galleries, but I mostly find myself “taking” in those situations. Taking ideas or inspiration or tricks, but providing very little. I’d like to do more collaboration in the future. 

##### How do you define success as an artist? What does it look like for you?

If I could pay my bills only from the sale of art, I’d consider myself pretty successful. That’s the dream, right? Puttering around the studio, setting my own schedule, having lunchtime beers and throwing paint around. If I could make enough money to have a studio assistant and not have to worry about the cost of supplies, I would be over the moon. 

##### Can you share a specific project or piece that holds special significance for you? Why is it important?

Sure. I would pick the first large mosaic I ever made. It was three feet by five feet and was constructed on the floor of my wife and my first apartment together. It was a real obstruction and fire hazard. It also weighed like a hundred pounds, because I constructed it on a giant cement tile backer board. It took me almost a year on and off and I moved it from Chicago to S.F. with us. I actually sold it to a guy I was seated next to on an airplane. He’s now one of my buddies and I get to see it in his place. Pretty cool, I think.

##### How do you engage with your audience, and what do you hope they take away from your work?

Hmmmmm. I’m pretty active on Instagram. I have a modest following and definitely try to post a lot. I’ll post works in progress or failed experiments, as well as finished “successful” pieces. I post reels of me being an idiot. I find self promotion to be distasteful, which is not a great trait for a professional artist. Often, my captions are sarcastic or low effort, I’ve even played with ChatGTP writing them for me. I don’t know what I hope people take away from that, but I hope it’s that I’d rather be making art. 

##### What challenges have you faced in your artistic career, and how have you overcome them?

I would say the same challenges most artists face. I’ve had plenty of rejections and sales that have fallen through. One of the biggest, most underlooked challenges, are the algorithms. The social media algorithms suck. I can have thousands of followers and get like fifty views on a post if I decide to put it up at the wrong time or whatever. I feel like it’s just throwing shit at a wall and that’s dumb. 

##### In what ways do you think art can contribute to social change or address current issues in society?

I think AI art is going to have a more profound negative affect on society than we are giving it credit for. Capitalism, in its current iteration, has already deprived us of so much beauty and craftsmanship. I don’t know why I want to go negative here. I just think that the people that care about art already care and I don’t think a piece of political or activist work is going to offset the negative forces already in motion. Make sure you vote. Also, if you feel up to it, maybe kill Mitch McConnell. To be clear, I’m not saying you should, just give it some thought. 

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Adam Gluskin's vibrant, eclectic art blends figurative motifs, influenced by his Jewish roots and personal experiences.

Spotlight: Adam Gluskin’s Bold and Playful World of Figurative Nonsense

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