Artist David Adey is the subject of a mid-career survey, “David Adey: Sacrificial Bodies,” opening April 25 at the Oceanside Museum of Art. The 70-piece exhibition, curated by gallery owner Mark Quint in collaboration with Adey, spans 25 years of his career and includes a 2026 re-creation of his 2001 piece “The Lamb,” which features a reconstructed lamb carcass. Adey, now 53, originally created the work as a graduate student at Cranbrook Academy of Art. The show also features pieces like “Gravitational Radius” and “2,127 Rounds,” a sculpture made by firing an AR-15, Glock 34, and shotgun into cedar.
The exhibition matters because it offers a comprehensive look at an artist who has consistently pushed boundaries across media, from craft-punch reconstructions of fashion magazine images to 3-D camera self-portraits and gunfire sculptures. Art critic Robert Pincus notes that Adey’s work challenges perception and creates new ways of seeing the body, technology, and reality. The survey format, rather than a show of new work, allows audiences to trace Adey’s evolution over a quarter century, highlighting his enduring curiosity and commitment to unsettling and delighting viewers.