Debtors of the 4-1-1
November 4th - December 2nd, 2023
E. Adamo


Press Release

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The first evidence of human writing was found near the Persian Gulf etched in pottery dated back approximately 5500 years. It depicted a system used for counting livestock and commodities. Tallying systems, carved into wood, bone, and stone have been found dating back over 40,000 years.  

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Neurologists have found that the parts of the human brain associated with understanding quantities are the same parts associated with cognition of one’s fingers. Likely consequential, number systems are commonly divided into sets of 5s, 10s, and 20s.

There are two distances: the distance between one’s eye and the tip of one’s finger, and the distance between the tip of one’s finger and what one is pointing to.


“...It is a fact people are discriminated against for being HIV positive. It is a fact the majority of the Nazi industrialists retained their wealth after the war. It is a fact the night belongs to Michelob and Coke is real. It is a fact the color of your skin matters. It is a fact Crazy Eddie’s prices are insane. It is a fact that four colors — red, black, green and white — placed next to each other in any form are strictly forbidden by the Israeli army in the occupied Palestinian territories. This color combination can cause an arrest, a beating, a curfew, a shooting, or a news photograph. Yet it is a fact that these forbidden colors, presented as a solitary act of consciousness here in Soho, will not precipitate a similar reaction.”

Excerpt from Felix Gonzalez-Torres’s artist statement for his solo exhibition at the New Museum in 1988

E. Adamo (b. 1994 Newburgh) is a New York based transdisciplinary artist. Their work is centered around intimacies within public life and often takes the form of events or installations fabricated around themes of power and its alluded absences.

Adamo works concurrently on multiple projects including the publication of a pseudonymous newspaper, construction of life-sized car hood ornaments, and an alternative art market in which artworks can only be obtained through a lottery.

They graduated from the Cooper Union School of Art in 2017 and are currently an MFA candidate at Social Practice CUNY in Queens. They wish to only be considered an artist under the conditions that everyone may be considered an artist.

Photos by Paloma Dooley