This Is Post-Theory Art
June 6 - July 26, 2025
"This show proposes that, related to conceptual art, there is post-theory art, that it is not
just the head but the heart, and that it lets humans share our theories with ourselves in ways that AI cannot." - Adam Daley Wilson
just the head but the heart, and that it lets humans share our theories with ourselves in ways that AI cannot." - Adam Daley Wilson
ENGAGE Projects is pleased to present This Is Post-Theory Art, a solo exhibition by painter, performance artist, and art theorist Adam Daley Wilson. The show’s visual and text-based pieces propose—first—that such a thing as Post-Theory Art may be seen in relation to conceptual art—and second—it can be defined as theory-making by an artist that is not just cognitive but also emotional and sensory-felt—landing in a viewer’s head, heart, and body all at once.
The show also proposes that one example of possible art practices in Post-Theory Art is “artist-placed public document art”—an artist creates a theory of public interest, places it into a court—art-as-law—and the court’s response lands not just in the heads, hearts, and lived experiences of the participants, but also in members of the public, if the public issue resonates.
In all of this, Post-Theory Art is proposed as human: When an artist makes a work with their head, heart, and body—all three—and when a viewer then experiences it themselves through all three, then perhaps this is a special human connection that AI is unable to do. If so, Post-Theory Art, by communicating theories through the emotional and sensorial, may be a way to preserve our human theory-making in this new time when AI can now make theories too.
The exhibition traverses styles including large-scale inscription paintings composed of scrawling, layered text as well as precision paintings that pair serene landscapes with the artist’s own truisms. Wilson’s work oscillates between poise and purposeful disruption to keep the viewer on their toes all the way through the gallery.
Adam Daley Wilson’s work is held in private and corporate collections in New York, Los Angeles, London, Paris, Miami, and Chicago. His solo exhibitions have been recognized as “Must See” by Artforum {Chicago, 2021, 2023). More recently, he was selected for EXPO Chicago’s public art programming (2025) and published an initial paper on art theory in the Fine Arts, Aesthetics, and Philosophy Journal of SSRN (2024). Daley Wilson has also served on the Board of Trustees of the Institute for Doctoral Studies in Visual Art (IDSVA), an international PhD program for artists, and he is also a practicing appellate lawyer specializing in Art Law, Constitutional Law, and the Visual Artists’ Rights Act. He also provides pro bono services to artists.
All installation photos by Jonas Muller-Ahlheim
Only Some Species Unmarred, 2025
artist's text on appropriated images on aluminum
artist's text on appropriated images on aluminum
New Cave Painting No. 12 (Post-Theory Art No 1), 2024
oil, ink, stain and varnish on canvas
78 x 56 in
198.1 x 142.2 cm
oil, ink, stain and varnish on canvas
78 x 56 in
198.1 x 142.2 cm
When Will You Want The New Constitution (We The People Remix), 2025
ink, oil and varnish on canvas
70 x 56 in
177.8 x 142.2 cm
ink, oil and varnish on canvas
70 x 56 in
177.8 x 142.2 cm
State Court Spoliation No. 1 (Art, Law, Vara), 2025
archival ink and oil diptych on paper
archival ink and oil diptych on paper
Artist-Placed Document No. 2, 2025
oil stick, paper, ink, and varnish over canvas
86 x 51 in
218.4 x 129.5 cm
oil stick, paper, ink, and varnish over canvas
86 x 51 in
218.4 x 129.5 cm
How It All Relates Is Like They Honey Bee (Post Theory Art No. 4), 2024
oil on canvas
74 x 50 in
188 x 127 cm
oil on canvas
74 x 50 in
188 x 127 cm
We All Have Our Fourths of July (Dream State), 2022
oil and varnish on new media
51 x 66 in
129.5 x 167.6 cm
oil and varnish on new media
51 x 66 in
129.5 x 167.6 cm
Artist-Placed Public Document No. 1, 2025
paper, ink, and varnish over canvas
78 x 56 in
198.1 x 142.2 cm
paper, ink, and varnish over canvas
78 x 56 in
198.1 x 142.2 cm
