Game Changing (Ace)

Derrick Adams’s Game Changing transforms familiar “face cards” from a standard deck of playing cards into images of black royalty. They remix and interrogate the symbolic codes underlying coats of arms and other medieval heraldry devices that inform card design. Adams drew inspiration from the modern American artist Romare Bearden (1911–1988), whose epic collages layer geometric forms and jewel-toned hues to explore African American life and history. Adams constructed his “playing cards” in segments of brilliant color. He screenprinted four layers of acrylic ink to their surfaces—black, blue, red, and yellow—and then, while the yellow ink was still wet, applied 23.5 carat gold leaf. As the ink dried the gilding abraded slightly, giving texture and individuality to each print. The result is a set of precious objects, each with a presence surprisingly unlike the mass-produced item it recalls.