Daniel Colen (born 1979) is an American artist based in New York. His work consists of painted appropriating low-cultural ephemera, graffiti-inspired paintings of text executed in paint, and installations.
Early life and education
Born in 1979 and raised in Leonia, New Jersey.
[Haramis, Nick. "Everything & Nothing: Dan Colen Reveals There Are Two Sides to Every Story" , BlackBook (magazine), October 1, 2010. Accessed March 31, 2011."The 31-year-old artist was born in Leonia, New Jersey, where, as a teenager, he befriended photographer Ryan McGinley at their local skate park."] His father,
Sy Colen, a wood and clay sculptor, was a participant in the 2006 reality TV show
Artstar. Colen attended Solomon Schechter Day School, and was raised
Jews.
Colen graduated with a B.F.A. in Painting from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2001.
After graduation he moved to the East Village in Manhattan, and by June 2006 he became a known artist.
Work
In his work,
Secrets and Cymbals, Smoke and Scissors: My Friend Dash's Wall in the Future (2004), Colen built an exact replica of a section of poster, photo and flyer-covered wall from friend
Dash Snow's apartment.
Each piece of visual material was handmade and attached to a Styrofoam copy of the wall.
In 2007, Dash Snow and Colen shredded phone books in Jeffrey Deitch's SoHo gallery for an installation called Nest or Hamster Nest.
Personal life
Colen was close friends with artists Dash Snow and
Ryan McGinley.
When Snow died in 2009 of a heroin overdose, Colen was greatly impacted and said he was determined to end his own addiction.
Exhibitions
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Potty Mouth, Potty War, Pot Roast, Pot is a Reality Kick, Gagosian Gallery, New York, 2006
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USA Today - new American Art from the Saatchi Collection, Royal Academy of Arts, London
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Whitney Biennial, New York, 2006
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Fantastic Politics, National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design, Oslo
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No Me, Peres Projects, Berlin, 2006. Solo exhibition.
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Dan Colen – Works from the Astrup Fearnley Collection, Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art, Oslo, Norway, 2018. Solo exhibition.
Collections
Colen's work is held in the following collections:
-
Saatchi Gallery
-
Whitney Museum of American Art
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Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art
External links
