06 - Adam Bateman, Flock 

Adam Bateman
American, b. 1974

Flock
2011
Irrigation implements
22 x 14 x 12 inches
Collection of the Artist
L.2021.1.2

Born in 1974 in Ogden, Utah, Adam Bateman is an artist, writer and curator. He received a BA in English and Spanish at Brigham Young University and an MFA in sculpture from Pratt Institute, New York.

Bateman uses materials as diverse as books, pasta, metal, wood and even the land itself in his artwork. He says of his practice, “My art has been an exploration of the aesthetics of the West. I have looked at how we create architectures (physical and cultural) that affect the aesthetic and rhetorical function of the landscape. This has been explored through looks at regional landscape painting, irrigation and institutional tourism.”

Descended from Mormon pioneers credited with building the first modern irrigation systems in Utah, Bateman worked as a pipe-mover in high school, an experience which later inspired this sculpture, Flock. Comprised of irrigation sprinklers, Flock references and combines Bateman’s personal history, the Mormon development of the West and formalist abstraction.

In addition to his work as an artist, Bateman has curated exhibitions in Los Angeles and New York City as well as for venues in Utah, including Central Utah Art Center, a nonprofit space that he directed for ten years.