Name: Jonathan Kent Adams
Instagram: jonathan_kent_adams
Age and Astrological sign: 25/Gemini
How long have you lived in Oxford? Almost 7 years
Artistic Style: All over the place.
Favorite project you’ve completed? I had the opportunity to show in Miami during Art Basel at a fringe show called Art Gaysel. The experience was incredible getting to meet so many people that loved art and were curious about what I was creating. I also sold more than half of my work which was exciting for me.
Where can we see your art on display? I have work hanging in City Grocery. It is a black and white series. The series is definitely a departure from most of my work. The ink series is like the skeleton beneath my paintings. The truth. The heart lines.
Early art experience? I sang more as young person than I ever painted. My early art experience consisted of me drawing signs for Homecoming in High school. I never had an art class until my sophomore year of college.
Favorite medium? For me to choose a favorite would be a lie. Each medium has been helpful at one time or another to communicate a certain concept more clearly. My default would definitely be an oil painting, but I am always cutting those up.
Favorite artistic tool or implement? My hands. I love my hands.
Favorite artists? Lady Gaga- she is always reinventing herself. I like that. I do not want to be known as an oil painter who paints the same type of painting. Predictable. I do not want my artistic career to be predictable. I like that she challenges that with passion.
I am also so grateful for the beauty that comes from art by: Leslie Dill, Howard Finster, Sister Gertrude Morgan, Mary Beth McKenzie, Francis Bacon, Don Bachardy, Rod Moorhead, Picasso and I really love all of Michelangelo’s pieces that revealed his process.
Where do you get the inspiration for your art? Sexuality, Religion, and Antamony
Most productive hours/environment? I honestly just need a wall I can paint or write on and a candle or two.
Do you have a studio? If so, where is it located? Yes, in my house
Do you have a “day job”? If so, where? High Point Coffee, Jackson Ave
Favorite bands? Fink, Sara Bareilles, Novo Amor, Lady Gaga, Audrey Assad, Penny & Sparrow, Erik Hassle, St. Lucia, Sigur Ros
Favorite books/authors? Tell No One by Harlan Coben
Faith Beyond Resentment by James Alison
Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris
What are some of your other hobbies? Smelling candles, antique shopping, instagram, cleaning, reading, cooking, having unnecessary conversations in my head, letting Blake attempt to teach me yoga
How has being from the south influenced your work? The south is weird and wonderful. There is a hospitality that hides some of the places that we need to work through with each other. My passion has always been to be brave somehow. My answer to that calling is the choice to be honest about my experience as a gay person here in the south. A gay person that also happens to be in love with God. I have had people that do not believe in me, my art, or the truth of those sentences, but that has only ignited a fire in me to walk through the dark of fake smiles and empty words. 
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