Adiante Franszoon Solo Exhibition

The phrase “simple and good” is the two-word artist statement of the encouraging and gladdening sculptor Adiante Franszoon. He mixes function and design with traditional materials and colorways through inlay. The multipurpose nature of some of the works in the exhibition is a nod to self-sufficiency and practicality. The exhibition showcases handheld mirrors, wood carved wall hangings and tabletops, and furniture to expand your opportunity to see the breadth of Franszoon’s work.

Learn more about Adiante Franszoon’s work from the artist himself on Friday, September 2nd, in our Marquee Lounge to kick off September’s First Friday!

Artist Bio 
Adiante Franszoon was born in the interior of Suriname along the Brazilian border. He was raised in the Saamacca Maroon tribe, in one of many communities established by former slaves who escaped from plantations on the coast of Suriname to the Amazon rain forest in the early 1700s. He learned to carve when he was a young boy growing up in the village of Dangogo. Adiante came to the United States in the early 1970s to get an American education. Despite never having had the opportunity to go to school in Suriname, Adiante learned English, completed the General Education High School Diploma, and graduated from the University of Baltimore with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Economics in 1982. He presently resides in Baltimore, Maryland, where he carries on the traditional Maroon carving of his ancestors. His work has been exhibited at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington DC, the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, Maryland, and at the Black History Museum in Richmond, Virginia. He has been a regular vendor at the Eastern Market in Washington, DC, for more than 30 years.