Adam Pendleton’s Canada solo show explores fragmentation of language and representation
‘These Things We’ve Done Together’, at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA), marks Adam Pendleton’s first solo show in Canada

American artist Adam Pendleton is presenting paintings from his Untitled (WE ARE NOT) series alongside brand new pieces for his first solo exhibition in Canada. Pendleton, who last year united with David Adjaye for an exhibition at Hong Kong’s Pace gallery, as well as holding a solo exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, is now bringing ‘These Things We’ve Done Together’ to Montreal.
Pieces in the exhibition at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA) build on the themes Pendleton has explored in previous works, riffing off the tension between language and representation, which is encapsulated in a clash of textures. Alongside the works from Untitled (WE ARE NOT) sit seven drawings from his Black Dada series, created this year, as well as pieces created specifically for this exhibition.
Adam Pendleton (born in 1984), Untitled (WE ARE NOT), 2021. Silkscreen ink on canvas.
The paintings are characterised by a clash of layers in spray paint, a method with which Pendleton experimented in 2008’s Black Dada, which marked the beginning of his exploration into the fragmentation of language. These latest Black Dada drawings consider the creation process behind this expression, incorporating images of traces of paint left on large sheets of paper hung on his studio walls while he worked.
Pendleton’s video work, Just Back from Los Angeles: A Portrait of Yvonne Rainer (2016-2017) is also on show. Filmed in a New York City diner, the film portrays dancer, choreographer and filmmaker Rainer and Pendelton in conversation, as well as scenes of Rainer performing her dance Trio A (1966). She reads from a text edited by Pendleton, which collates writing from activists Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, Malcolm X, and Stokely Carmichael, poet Ron Silliman and Rainer’s friend, dancer and choreographer Barbara Dilley.
Partial view of the exhibition ‘Adam Pendleton: These Things We’ve Done Together’.
‘The new four 20ft paintings form the foundation for the exhibition,’ Pendleton tells us. ‘The questions they pose and the process it took to make them are addressed and utilised in the Black Dada Drawings and the video portrait Just Back From Los Angeles: A Portrait of Yvonne Rainer.
‘All of the works are composed of nodes – gestures, words, letters, marks, splatters – acting upon and transforming one another. What interests me most, in the particular instance of this show, is the question of what might emerge from these transformations, in which the gesture passes between movement and stasis, in which language passes between abstraction and legibility, and in which the mark passes between inscription and circulation.’
Adam Pendleton (born in 1984), Still from Just back from Los Angeles: A Portrait of Yvonne Rainer, 2016-2017, single-channel black and white video, 13 min 51 s.
Adam Pendleton (born in 1984), Black Dada Drawing (C), 2021. Silkscreen ink on paper (2 sheets) 46.1 x 73 cm (each); 92.2 x 73 cm (overall).
INFORMATION
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
‘Adam Pendleton: These Things We’ve Done Together‘ will be on view in the Contemporary Art Square and Graphic Arts Centre of the Jean-Noël Desmarais Pavilion at the MMFA until 10 July 2022. Tickets can be purchased online at mmfa.qc.ca
Hannah Silver is the Art, Culture, Watches & Jewellery Editor of Wallpaper*. Since joining in 2019, she has overseen offbeat design trends and in-depth profiles, and written extensively across the worlds of culture and luxury. She enjoys meeting artists and designers, viewing exhibitions and conducting interviews on her frequent travels.
-
Highlights from the transporting Cruise 2026 shows
The Cruise 2026 season began yesterday with a Chanel show at Lake Como, heralding the start of a series of jet-setting, destination runway shows from fashion’s biggest houses
-
Behind the design of national pavilions in Venice: three studios to know
Designing the British, Swiss and Mexican national pavilions at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2025 are three outstanding studios to know before you go
-
Premium patisserie Naya is Mayfair’s latest sweet spot
Heritage meets opulence at Naya bakery in Mayfair, London. With interiors by India Hicks and Anna Goulandris, the patisserie looks good enough to eat
-
Beyond tourism: Caribbean artists reflect on its legacy
'Fragments of Epic Memory' at the Columbus Museum of Art looks beyond the Caribbean's stereotypes
-
Kapwani Kiwanga considers value and commerce for the Canada Pavilion at the Venice Biennale 2024
Kapwani Kiwanga draws on her experiences in materiality for the Canada Pavilion at the 60th Venice Biennale
-
AA Bronson on the radical, enduring legacy of General Idea
General Idea, an art group that pioneered a queer aesthetic, is celebrated in a retrospective at the National Gallery of Canada (opened during Pride Month and running until 20 November 2022). Surviving member AA Bronson speaks about their origins, and impact on art and social justice
-
Stan Douglas in Venice: a hypnotic chronicle of youth, revolt and liberation
Stan Douglas’ captivating two-part exhibition for the Canada Pavilion in Venice is a haunting and meticulous reconstruction of historical events
-
Photographing Montreal's urban spaces at night during lockdown
Follow photographer James Brittain's lens as he explores night time and urban spaces during the recent pandemic lockdown in Montreal, Canada, with his latest series, ‘Night Walks'
-
Edward Burtynsky surveys the devastating scale of man’s footprint on the planet
-
Westbank goes BIG in Toronto
-
Night visions: Façade Festival 2016 lights up the streets of Vancouver