About
From the outset, Dan Colen’s paintings have continually investigated one foundational question: To what extent does art come from the artist, and to what extent does it arise from forces independent of the artist? In his earliest works, Colen labored over precise oil renderings of banal interiors—a sloppy apartment bathroom, an adolescent bedroom, a camping tent—into which he introduced the presence of the supernatural—the Blue Fairy, Jesus Christ, twinkling cherubs, his deceased grandfather. He describes his subsequent series of Candle paintings as “portraits of God.” In these works, the space of the canvas embodies Geppetto’s worktable—where Pinocchio transcends his materiality to become real—and a message appears in the smoke left by a just-extinguished candle flame.
In 2006 Colen started to make “paintings” with chewing gum instead of paint, ushering in a long period during which he traded representational subject matter for an exploration of the medium itself. Using flowers, dirt, grass, tar and feathers, Mylar confetti, street trash, and readymade metal studs, he relinquished his controlled approach to painting, allowing the final result to be guided by the behavior of a given material. He has mused on this loss of control as a source of excitement, commenting that it was as if the paintings were taking on “inevitable forms—almost like destined forms.”
Colen was born in 1979 in New Jersey. He received a BFA in 2001 from the Rhode Island School of Design, Providence. Recent solo exhibitions include Peanuts, Astrup Fearnley Museet, Oslo (2011); In Living Color, FLAG Art Foundation, New York (2012); The Illusion of Life, Inverleith House, Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh (2013); Help!, Brant Foundation Art Study Center, Greenwich, Connecticut (2014); The L . . . o . . . n . . . g Count, Walter De Maria Building, New York (2014); Psychic Slayer, Herning Museum of Contemporary Art, Denmark (2015); Shake the Elbow, Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York (2015); and Oil Painting, Dallas Contemporary (2016). Colen’s work was included in the 2006 Whitney Biennial and the 12th Lyon Biennale in 2013. His work is featured in collections including the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Astrup Fearnley Museet, Oslo; Dakis Joannou Collection, Athens; de la Cruz Collection, Miami; Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, DC; Jiménez-Cólón Collection, Puerto Rico; and Walker Art Center, Minneapolis.
Colen lives and works in New York.
Photo: Eric Piasecki
#DanColen
Exhibitions
Dan Colen
HELP
February 26–April 4, 2020
Park & 75, New York
Dan Colen
High Noon
November 2–December 15, 2018
Beverly Hills
Dan Colen
When I’m Gone
March 21–May 13, 2016
Hong Kong
Dan Colen
Miracle Paintings
September 2–October 18, 2014
555 West 24th Street, New York
Dan Colen
Out of the Blue, Into the Black
June 12–July 28, 2012
Paris
Dan Colen
Blowin’ in the Wind
April 5–July 5, 2012
Athens
Dan Colen
Trash
September 19–October 29, 2011
Rome
Dan Colen
Poetry
September 10–October 16, 2010
555 West 24th Street, New York
Dan Colen: Carry On Cowboy
Gagosian Quarterly presents Dan Colen’s Carry On Cowboy. This performance first took place during the exhibition Dan Colen: High Noon at Gagosian, Beverly Hills.
Dan Colen: At Least They Died Together
Gagosian Quarterly presents Dan Colen’s At Least They Died Together. This performance first took place during the exhibition Dan Colen: High Noon at Gagosian, Beverly Hills.
Gagosian Quarterly Talks
Dan Colen, Dimitri Chamblas, and Douglas Fogle
Douglas Fogle moderates a conversation between Dan Colen and Dimitri Chamblas following the premiere of Colen’s two performance pieces At Least They Died Together and Carry On Cowboy.
Work in Progress
Dan Colen
We visit the artist’s studio in Brooklyn, New York, to get a behind-the-scenes glimpse of his new series of Desert paintings while he prepares for an upcoming exhibition in Beverly Hills. Text by Ben Eastham.
The Bigger Picture
Free Arts NYC
Meredith Mendelsohn discusses the impact of Free Arts NYC and its mission to foster creativity in children and teens, on the occasion of its twenty-year anniversary.
In Conversation
Dan Colen and Ali Subotnick
Dan Colen speaks with Ali Subotnick on the occasion of his exhibition, Dan Colen: Sweet Liberty, at the Newport Street Gallery in London.
The Bigger Picture
Rx Art
Derek Blasberg speaks with Diane Brown, president and founder of RxArt, and with contributing artists Dan Colen, Urs Fischer, and Jeff Koons about the transformative power of visual art.
Dan Colen: The Bowery School
In this video from the Louisiana Channel, Dan Colen sits down to talk about friends like Ryan McGinley and Dash Snow, and how his art developed to a place of celebration.
Fairs, Events & Announcements
Book Signing
Dan Colen
High Noon
Saturday, March 7, 2020, 3–4pm
Gagosian Shop, New York
Gagosian will host a book signing with Dan Colen to celebrate the publication of High Noon, an exhibition catalogue of his Desert Paintings (2015–19), exhibited at Gagosian, Beverly Hills, in 2018. These large-scale paintings are lush yet schematic interpretations of the arid landscapes from Chuck Jones’s animated shorts featuring Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner. The volume also documents two new performances, At Least They Died Together and Carry On Cowboy (both 2018). To attend the free event, RSVP to colenrsvp@gagosian.com.
Download the full press release (PDF)
Dan Colen: High Noon (New York: Gagosian, 2020)
Visit
Gagosian at Galeries Lafayette Champs-Élysées
Opening reception: Saturday, October 12, 6:30–8pm
October 12–20, 2019
Galeries Lafayette Champs-Élysées, Paris
galerieslafayettechampselysees.com
In celebration of FIAC in Paris, Gagosian is pleased to collaborate with Galeries Lafayette Champs-Élysées on a two-floor pop-up takeover featuring products related to Gagosian artists. On the first floor, the Coin Culture section will feature catalogues, posters, apparel, and audio productions. The second floor, the Library, will house an additional selection of limited-edition books, publications, and catalogues raisonnés.
Download the full press release in English (PDF) or French (PDF)
Gagosian at Galeries Lafayette Champs-Élysées, Paris, 2019
Performances and Talk
Dan Colen, Dimitri Chamblas, Douglas Fogle
Wednesday, December 5, 2018, 4:30–8pm
Gagosian, Beverly Hills
Join Gagosian for the premiere of At Least They Died Together and Carry On Cowboy, two new performance pieces by Dan Colen with choreographer Dimitri Chamblas. The works will be performed in the exhibition Dan Colen: High Noon currently on view at Gagosian Beverly Hills and will start at 4:30pm and 5pm, respectively. The performances will be followed by a conversation with Colen and Chamblas moderated by curator and author Douglas Fogle. The discussion will start promptly at 7pm. To attend the free event, RSVP to rsvpbh@gagosian.com.
Dan Colen, The Silent Stranger, 2018 (detail) © Dan Colen
Museum Exhibitions
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Reflections
Matt Black × Gana Art
November 1, 2019–January 5, 2020
Gana Art Center and Gana Art Hannam, Seoul
ganaart.com
In collaboration with filmmaker Matt Black, this exhibition is centered around his short film series titled Reflections, which features conversations with contemporary artists. Through his interviews, Black paints a picture of the rapidly changing contemporary art scene, revealing the stories behind the artworks. Following the film’s theme, Gana Art has curated this exhibition to feature works by these artists, which include Dan Colen, Rachel Feinstein, Jeff Koons, Harmony Korine, Sterling Ruby, Taryn Simon, and Blair Thurman, among others.
Installation view, Reflections: Matt Black × Gana Art, Gana Art Center and Gana Art Hannam, Seoul, November 1, 2019–January 5, 2020. Artwork © Sterling Ruby
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Dan Colen
May 25–September 16, 2018
Astrup Fearnley Museet, Oslo
afmuseet.no
This exhibition of works from the Astrup Fearnley Collection will bring together a corpus of Dan Colen’s paintings (made from oil, chewing gum, confetti, flowers, and lemon juice) as well as sculpture, photographs, and film. Embodiments of moments that have taken on aesthetic form, the works present fragmented stories told in the first person about the artist and his immediate environment. They are dialogues with society and commentaries on art history that often reference political issues, mixing high and low cultural values.
Dan Colen, No Way Jose, 2008–09 © Dan Colen. Photo: Christopher Burke
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Dan Colen
Sweet Liberty
October 4, 2017–January 28, 2018
Newport Street Gallery, London
www.newportstreetgallery.com
This exhibition is Dan Colen’s first major solo exhibition in London and spans more than fifteen years of his art making. The show features new works, including large-scale installations, alongside significant early pieces.
Installation view, Dan Colen: Sweet Liberty, Newport Street Gallery, London, October 4, 2017–January 28, 2018. Artwork © Dan Colen. Photo by Prudence Cumings Associates Ltd © Victor Marta Ltd.
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Dan Colen in
Ryan McGinley: The Kids Were Alright
February 11–August 20, 2017
Museum of Contemporary Art Denver
mcadenver.org
Featured in this survey of Ryan McGinley’s early work is Dan Colen’s Secrets and Cymbals, Smoke and Scissors (My Friend Dash’s Wall in the Future) (2004–06/2016). This massive sculpture––the artist’s first––is also a monumental painting. Spanning almost ten feet, the freestanding work is comprised of hundreds of small oil paintings on paper or foam, each a 1:1 trompe l’oeil representation of a corresponding photograph, newspaper clipping, or object that hung in an identical position on Dash Snow’s apartment wall in the early 2000s. The apartment was a gathering place for friends and artists, among them Colen’s childhood friend Ryan McGinley.
Dan Colen, Secrets and Cymbals, Smoke and Scissors (My Friend Dash’s Wall in the Future), 2004–06/2016
Press
Studio visit: Dan Colen draws the connection between Wile E. Coyote and the never-ending chase by Ann Binlot
Document Journal
November 16, 2018
Online
PDF