Since graduating from the Royal College of Art in 2006, Bridgland has used a diverse range of materials and working methods to pursue an incisive and often witty exploration of distinctively British sentiments, externalising the underlying sense of loss and nostalgia that permeates our memories. Vignettes of British back-packer’s holidays, old-fashioned bus-tours, and childhood seaside breaks that figure strongly in his visual repertoire are often tinged with this feeling of time having passed too quickly, our memories gradually fading. Twinned with this however, is an upbeat celebration of themes distilled from children’s colouring books, paint-by-numbers kits, old public transport posters and kitsch postcards, which he imbues with the kaleidoscopic richness of carefully chosen and thickly applied primary colours. These everyday, almost mundane subjects are treated with the importance and status of emblems; centred in each work and often encapsulated within related text or target-like circular borders that focus our gaze.
Whether descriptive of change or constancy, Bridgland’s work keys into our desire to remember and relive, and plays upon our tendency to elevate our shared memories with the rose-tinted, wistful spectacles we don when thinking of the past, as well as the future. His depictions of identity and belonging, nostalgia and emotion give to his work a hugely personal aspect, and are influenced by a graphic and visual tradition that is quite specific to Britain. Yet his subtle combinations of image and related text play on everyone’s perceptions of shared occasions. Perhaps then it is the delicately précised power of the experiences he attempts to capture that make Bridgland’s work so accessible to all.
Text by Matthew Reeves, Independent Curator and Curator of East Wing Nine at the Courtauld Institute of the Arts.
A graduate of the Royal College of Art, Adam lives and works as an artist in Cambridgeshire.
Since his graduation in 2006, he has exhibited widely in the UK, America, Europe and Asia. The British Museum, the V&A, UBS, Boeing Asia and Debbie Harry are just some of the collectors of Adam's work. In July 2009 Adam was awarded his first major public art commission by Commissions East. He has since gone to complete a number of important projects, including work for YouTube, Warchild UK, Heal's, Comme Des Garcons, Airnimal bikes, Cambridge United Football Club, Ace Hotel, Soho House, SmartLIFE, Jacuzzi and Eastern Pavilions.
Solo Exhibitions
2019 Contents Of My Excitement, The Other One, Essex
2018 I Need This Wilderness, LAF 30th Anniversary, Islington, London. In Collaboration with London Art Fair and TAG Fine Arts
2017 Splice Artist Residency, Old Street, London.
2017 We're Still Good Friends, Curwen Gallery, London.
2016 Interesting Borings, CP+B London, York Way, London.
2014 Tiny Positives, BETC London, Rathbone Place, London, W1T.
2014 Darbyshire, White Lion Street, London, N1.
2014 Fables, The Poetry Society, 22 Betterson Street, London, WC2H.
2013 Circa, in collaboration with Peacock Visual Arts, various venues, in association with Impact 8 International Print Conference, Dundee, Scotland
2013 TREASURE, curated by Matthew Reeves, The Gallery @ Idea Store, Whitechapel, London.
2012 There's A Story Here That Might Interest You, South Beach Lookout, Aldeburgh, Suffolk.
2012 Happy, All Smiles, Peacock Visual Arts, Castle Street, Aberdeen.
2011 Wellen, Kolvenburg, Billerbeck, Germany.
2011 Be My Guide Tonight, aspex, Portsmouth.
2011 Souvenir London, East Wing Nine, The Courtauld Institute of Art, Somerset House, London, WC2R.
2009 The Nowhere Tide And A Sad Song, Curwen and New Academy Gallery, 34 Windmill Street, London.
2009 Now I Find Poetry In The Strangest Places, TAG Fine Arts, Project Space, London Art Fair, Business Design Centre, London, N1.
2008 Every Town Can Be Full Of Interest If You Train Yourself To Find It, Babylon Gallery, Ely, Cambridgeshire.
Selected Group Exhibitions
2021 Blue Rainbow, W1 Curates, Oxford Street, London.
2019 Land and Sea, Rowe and Williams, Suffolk
2018 Ace Club, London
2018 Jealous Needs You 2018
2018 Choose Love, Somerset House, London
2017 Blisters 2017 Paperback Edition, Printclub, London.
2017 We Came Here To Conquer, Norwich Castle, Norwich, Norfolk.
2017 Turf Projects and Fungus Press, Reeves Corner, Croydon - collaboration with Lee Johnson.
2017 Jealous Needs You, Saatchi Gallery, London.
2016 Jealous Needs You, Jealous East, Shoreditch, London.
2016 Artist Language Location (ALL), Kettle's Yard, Cambridge (project with Lee Johnson)
2016 It's Hard To Concentrate With A Head Full Of Filth (two person show with Danny Augustine as Augustine and Bridgland), Jealous North, London.
2015 Art4Peace, exhibition curated for International Alert, House of Vans, Waterloo, London.
2015 Behind the Curtains and Blinds (two person show with Danny Augustine as Augustine and Bridgland), Jealous East and Jealous North, London.
2015 Jealous Take Over CNB, Cock 'n' Bull Gallery, Tramshed, Rivington Street, London.
2014 XL, Peacock Visual Arts, Castle Street, Aberdeen, AB11 5BQ.
2014 Hometown, Exhibition with Paul Crooks and Lucy Gough, Hemingway Art, Pennwood House, Cassington, Oxford
2014 To Start A Conversation Across A Crowded Room, Smiths Row, Market Cross, Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk. Online catalogue here.
2014 Ghosts of Gone Birds Aldeburgh, Aldeburgh Beach Lookout, Aldeburgh, Suffolk.
2014 The Current, Group Exhibition with Lucy Gough, Matt Green, Adam Hayes and Jess Wilson, Soma Gallery, Bristol.
2014 Recent Acquisitions, UH Art Collection, University of Hertfordshire Galleries, Museum of St Albans, Hatfield Road, St Albans, Hertfordshire.
2014 Manifesto, Generator Projects, Dundee.
2014 Flowers For Your Darlings (two person show with Danny Augustine), Jealous, Park Road, Crouch End, London.
2013 I Choose Gun (two person show with Lucy Gough), Jealous, Park Road, Crouch End, London.
2013 Carousel, contemporary artists working in print curated by Adam Bridgland, aspex, Main Space, The Vulcan Building, Gunswharf Quays, Portsmouth, PO1 3BF.
2013 Recent Works from the Scottish Print Network, Cooper Gallery, Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design, Perth Road, Dundee, Scotland.
2013 Artists In Print: 21 Years of Collaboration, an exhibition celebrating 21 years of printmaker Michael Waight’s collaborations with artists, Peacock Visual Arts, Castle Street, Aberdeen, AB11 5BQ.
2013 Connections, Works on Paper from the Purdue Galleries Collection, Purdue Fountain Gallery, Perrin Building, Lafayette, Indiana, USA
2013 Eastern Pavilions Print Portfolio, various locations, United Kingdom.
2013 FLICKER: Artists & Super 8, Smiths Row, Market Cross, Bury St. Edmunds.
2012 British Printmaking in Japan, Centre For Contemporary Art, Kita Kyushu, Japan.
2012 Eastern Pavilions Print Portfolio, various locations, United Kingdom.
2012 Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition 2012, Happy, All Smiles screen print exhibited, Royal Academy of Arts, Piccadilly, London, W1J.
2012 British Printmaking in Japan, Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art, Kyoto, Japan.
2012 An Evening Wonderland, Pop Up Exhibition in collaboration with The Red Door Gallery, National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh, Scotland.
2012 We Are The Fragments, Group Show curated by Lee Johnson, Tabernacle Art Gallery, Notting Hill, London.
2011 Troubadour, Two Person Exhibition with Lucy Gough, Pennwood House, Cassington, Oxford, United Kingdom.
2011 Jealous at Smiths Row, Smiths Row, Market Cross, Bury St. Edmunds.
2011 Ghosts of Gone Birds, Liverpool School of Art and Design, Hope Street, Liverpool, Merseyside and The Rochelle School, Arnold Circus, London.
2011 IV, Curwen Rectory Gallery, Fournier Street, London.
2010 Two's A Pair, V and A Museum, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 2RL.
2010 Exhibitionism (The Art of Display), East Wing Nine, The Courtauld Institute of Art, Somerset House, London, WC2R.
2009 It's Just You And The Rest Of The Universe (two person show with Lucy Gough), Jealous, Park Road, Crouch End, London.
2009 Northern Print Biennale, Laing Art Gallery, New Bridge Street, Newcastle Upon Tyne.
2009 Trading Meaning, three-man show with Gonka Gyatso and Tony Scott, 798, Beijing, China
2007 Rites of Passage, Quay Arts, Newport, Isle of Wight.
2007 I'm Not A Tourist, I Live Here, Pennwood House, Cassington, Oxford.
2007 Sea Change, Mark Jason Gallery, London.
2006 Jetlag @ London Artists Book Fair 2006, ICA, The Mall, London, SW1.
2006 Generation, Final Degree Show, Royal College of Art, Kensington Gore, London.
Selected Awards, Commissions and Residencies
2020 Print commission for Victoria and Albert Museum London
2020 Print commission for Warchild UK
2020 Commission for Cambridge United Football Club
2020 Commission for Wilson's Provisions, Kent
2020 Commission for Sailmaker band
2019 Commission for Phase 5, UCLH Arts, London.
2018 Lord Wigram Ward Commission, Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, London.
2018 Commission for Comme Des Garcons and Junya Watanbe SS19 Collection (Augustine & Bridgland).
2018 Sculpture commission for 30th Anniversary of the London Art Fair.
2018 Author and Artist in Residence Ace Hotel, London.
2017 Commission for Cambridge Assessment and Commission Projects.
2017 Print commission for Pier Projects.
2017 Print commissioned by Norwich University College of the Arts for their BALLOT Portfolio.
2017 Zetland House mural, Shoreditch. Made in collaboration with Jess Wilson, TEZ and Bench Allen.
2016 Company logo created for George & George Co. Ltd, a production company formed by Joanna Scanlan and Vicki Pepperdine.
2016 Star Wars BB-8 custom model for Great Ormond Street Hospital and Disney.
2016 Special bicycle commission for Airnimal.
2015 Wall mural for Burgers @ N8, London.
2015 Rooftop mural Jealous Gallery, Shoreditch, London.
2015 Print commission for The Charity Arts Project.
2015 Commission for YouTube, Cannes, France.
2015 Augustine & Bridgland Commission for Heal's Spring/Summer Collection 2015 with Danny Augustine.
2014 Print commissioned for SOMA Gallery. 10th Birthday celebration portfolio.
2014 Commission for YouTube, Cannes, France.
2014 Commission for Brooklyn band Yellow Ostrich.
2013 Commission for Jacuzzi.
2013 Print commissioned by Kafka, Aberdeen, Scotland.
2013 Two designs commissioned by Uncle Fritz, Sydney, Australia.
2012 There's A Story Here That Might Interest You, South Beach Lookout Residency, Aldeburgh, Suffolk.
2012 Print commissioned by Norwich University College of the Arts for their 12" Print Portfolio.
2012 Special Olympic Print commissioned by the Curwen Studio.
2012 Happy, All Smiles image used by the Royal Academy of Arts as part of a special postcard range for the Summer Exhibition 2012.
2011 Print commissioned by Smiths Row for the Eastern Pavilions Print Portfolio.
2011 Print commissioned for the Ghosts of Gone Birds Print Portfolio.
2011 Residency with the Druckvereinigung Bentlage at the Kloster Bentlage Cultural Centre and Museum, Rheine, Germany.
2011 SmartLIFE, Low Carbon Centre Building Public Art Commission, Cambridge, UK.
2010 University College Hospital London, Wellness Hoarding Commission for UCH Macmillan Cancer Centre, W1.
2009 University College Hospital London, Series of vinyl artworks created for the Neo-Natal Department, November 2009.
2009 Futures Community College, Futures Community College, Southend-on-Sea, Commissions East
2008 BabylonEngaged Bursary Artist 2008.
2006 The Last Tourist image used by Tranport for London as part of a special poster commission in collaboration with the Royal College of Art.
2006 Davis Langdon RCA Award 2006.
2004 Artists Access Award (AA2A), Norwich School of Art and Design.
2002 Noel Spencer Award for Printmaking.
Selected Publications/Reviews
Printmaking Today, Autumn 2019, Featured Artist.
Screen Printing, The Ultimate Studio Guide, Thames and Hudson/Printclub, 2017.
Ghosts of Gone Birds written by Chris Aldous and published by Bloomsbury, 2013.
Platform For Art, Art On The Underground written by Alex Coles and Tasmin Dillon and published by Black Dog Publishing, 2008.
Work has also featured in various publications including The Guardian, Art In Print, The Times, The Times Magazine, Printmaking Today, Nylon Guys, Living Etc, Freunde von Freunden, The Metro, The Herald, Time Out, Livingetc, Random Spectacular, A-N Magazine and Art in England.
Work In Collections
The British Museum Prints and Drawings Collection, The Unilever Collection, Hoxton Hotel Group, Soho House Group, AEA Investors LLC, UBS, The V & A, Kloster Bentlage Germany, University of Cambridge Kettle's Yard, Ace Hotel, Addenbrookes Hospital Cambridge, Kolvenburg Billerbeck Germany, Los Angeles Natural History Museum, Boeing Asia, HBOS, Aberdeen Art Gallery, UCLH Arts NHS London, Courtauld Institute of the Arts East Wing, The De La Warr Pavilion Bexhill on Sea, The Royal College of Art, The BBC, Tony Blair's office, Purdue University Indiana, University of Dundee, The Curwen Studio, Peacock Visual Arts, Norwich University College of the Arts, Louise Clarke, Norwich Castle Museum and Art Gallery, Chelsea and Westminster Health Charity, Imperial College Hospital Trust, Jo Brooks PR, Nuffield Trust Cambridge, The Aldeburgh Beach South Lookout Residency Archive, University of Hertfordshire, Debbie Harry, Jeremy Paxman, Charles Dunstone, Casey Neistat, Guy Chambers and various private collections across Asia, Europe and the United States.
Qualifications and Education
2004-2006 Royal College of Art, London: MA Fine Art
1999-2002 Norwich School of Art and Design: BA Hons Fine Art