Yura Adams makes abstract paintings with invented shapes, expressive movement and intense color to interpret her idiosyncratic view of nature.

Adams opened a solo exhibition at Olympia, New York City of her paintings and installation May 9, 2025.  Previously her first solo show with Olympia was fall 2022, and Olympia presented her in a solo booth at NADA New York City, spring, 2022. Other exhibitions include a two-person at Turley Gallery, Hudson, NY, 2023, LABspace, Hillsdale, NY, 2022, and John Davis Gallery, Hudson, NY, 2018. Recent group shows include Vassar Art Library, 2025, Vassar College, NY, Front Gallery, Houston, TX, 2024, Woodstock Art Museum, Woodstock, NY, 2021, and Albany Airport, Albany, NY, 2021.

Adams has been awarded grants from the Tree of Life Foundation (2023) and Peter S. Reed Foundation (2022), Drawing Center Viewing Program (2021), Pollock-Krasner Grant (2019), Berkshire Taconic Foundation Grant (2017), New York State Council on the Arts Grant (2010), New York Foundation for the Arts Mark Program (2009), and the National Endowment for the Arts (1985).

In the early part of her career in New York City, Adams presented her work in locations such as Just Above Midtown, City Gallery, The New Museum, Experimental Intermedia, Franklin Furnace, and FOTO Gallery. She earned both her BFA (1975) and MFA (1980) at the San Francisco Art Institute.