Born in 1952 in Arizona, Allan Adams earned his B.A. from California State College, Stanislaus, California in 1975 followed by an M.F.A. from the University of California at Davis in 1978. His works have been exhibited at notable institutions such as the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, the Taft Museum of Art, Cincinnati, and the Baltimore Museum of Art. Creating sculptures in wood, Adams renders highly detailed, illusionistic objects that are traditionally manufactured from other materials. To remind the viewer that his works are sculptures, not merely replicas of utilitarian objects, he leaves them unpainted and unstained. His pieces are characterized by fine detail and a masterful use of scale.
*Excerpted from Tools as Art: the Hechinger Collection, published by Harry N. Abrams Inc.