NOVEMBER 30TH, 2023

Colonna Contemporary is a contemporary art gallery dedicated to bridging the worlds of traditional and digital art. Located in Wayne, PA, Colanna Contemporary is more than just a physical space. It offers collectors an unparalleled opportunity to explore the most advanced trends and technologies available today. By seamlessly blending these two art worlds, we can uncover new dimensions of creativity and redefine the artistic landscape.

We all feel we know each other in this space, but we don’t, not really. You don’t know someone until you breathe the same air.

I’ve spoken to Adam several times online and recorded a podcast with him (coming soon). I’m never one to shy away from topics so I felt like I got a good sense of Adam, what he was about, and who he was. I think we feel that because artists are so used to expressing themselves through their work and talking about themselves we get a good sense of who they are.

But we don’t, not really.

Getting to know people takes time, breathing the same air; which I did at the opening of his show From Pigment to Pixel at Colonna Contemporary until mid-December.

Spend time with Adam, even virtually, and you’ll see he’s articulate, intelligent, and deliberate. These characteristics serve him well when he speaks with collectors about his work. His salesman is professional and educated, making any collector confident in their investment in his talent.

I just happened to be in the right area to overhear a conversation between ADHD (Colin Frangicetto) and AD_AD (Adam) about sobriety. I was just the wallflower soaking in the experience as best I could.

There is a club I am not a part of as I’m not an artist. There’s a shared experience in creating, selling, and presenting art at a gallery that artists understand and that I will never experience. You see it when they interact: the familiarity, the comfort, the recognition of another emotionally connected individual; it breaks down boundaries and barriers. The small talk melts away for true connection.

I asked Adam later about his struggles with substances and if it’s ever represented in his art.

“Would you believe no one has ever asked me that before?”

I’m not surprised. Asking someone about their sobriety, or struggles with it, makes those without that shared experience uncomfortable. Uncomfortable may not be the right word, but people certainly feel apprehensive to pry. It’s a personal journey that can go south at any moment and unless you know where they are on their journey, strangers will steer the conversation back towards topics they’re comfortable with; less emotionally raw.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, for Adam I am familiar with the world of recovery. I had a family full of addicts. I was going to school for drug counseling in my pre-web3 life. I am a part of this club.

“I have not objectively put anything related to sobriety in my work. But you cannot separate the artist from the work. The art and the artist are inseparable. I was afraid I would lose something in my art when I got clean — you know the ‘No junk no soul’ thing. And I definitely had to deconstruct and reconstruct my identity which includes being an artist. What I found was that my work before I got clean was kind of like running at a cliff and seeing if I could stop before falling over. My work since being clean is far more meditative, precise, and intentional with great attention toward developing the process.”

“The daily work it takes to live a life free from substances as opposed to a life dependent on them which I also lived from my youth until I was about 30 years old is inherently baked into the work (CREATOR/DESTROYER; CONFLICT/Resolution). the sacred and profane as represented by the gold square.”

The laziest joke anyone can make about abstract art is, “I could do that. It’s just a bunch of squiggles and random things.” Spend any time with abstract artists and you’ll understand how much time and thought goes into the abstract expression.

The precision required to stay clean mirrors Adam’s deliberate intensity toward his craft and success.

“I could just as easily throw it away and get wasted as I could continue the daily maintenance needed to stay clean. Of course, substitution is a reality for addicts — but far more than using art specifically as a drug I use work itself. The art is pure. It is my workaholism which includes social media, networking, sales ($$$), and poorly defined work-life balance that is the obsession.”

I’m sure plenty of others (myself included) will identify with the addictive nature of this space — the collecting, the FOMO, the obsessive nature of it all. This digital art revolution has brought together many of us searching for something to share with others. Maybe we’re sharing our addictive personalities.

Regardless of what brought us here, the truth remains: art is a shared experience. Getting to know the artist adds another layer of shared experiences. And, since you can’t separate the art from the artist, I’m a part of a different club, that understands Adam’s art that much more.