Terry Adkins was an interdisciplinary artist whose practice explored the intersection of music, art, and African American history. Adkins was a trained musician who studied guitar, saxophone, and other instruments before turning to printmaking and sculpture. Connecting music and art, Adkins aimed to make sculpture as “ethereal and transient” as music and to make music as “visceral and physical” as sculpture. He approached artmaking like a composer, arranging modified musical instruments with other materials into objects he referred to as “recitals.” Many such works were made in homage to prominent Black figures in American history and brought attention to marginalized narratives.

–Tiffany Choi, from the Glenstone Field Guide