About
Gagosian is pleased to present High Noon, an exhibition of Desert paintings by Dan Colen.
Colen’s early works were hyperrealistic paintings of lived-in interiors—a cluttered bathroom, a messy bedroom, a camping tent—that included supernatural or religious figures, including Jesus Christ, the ghost of his grandfather, and flying cartoon cherubim. Frustrated by what he perceived as a limited discourse surrounding photorealism, Colen shifted his focus to making paintings using unconventional media—chewing gum, trash, tar and feathers, soil, and metal studs—as well as papier-mâché works, animatronic sculptures, lifelike nude self-portraits, and uncanny installations incorporating flags, sneakers, and handmade replicas of beer bottles and cigarette butts.
Over the last four years, Colen has returned to representational oil painting through more formalist investigations into the “materiality of color” and “the objecthood of paint.” Made alongside the Mother paintings (2017–18), which explore notions of safety and fear, and the Purgatory paintings (2017–18), which consider the sublime through abstract and cartoon references, the Desert paintings (2016–18) are lush yet schematic interpretations of stills from Chuck Jones’s animated shorts featuring Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner. In the very first episode, Fast and Furry-ous (1949), Coyote attempts to trick the Road Runner by painting a trompe l’oeil tunnel on the side of a cliff. To Coyote’s astonishment, the bird runs right through the tunnel without breaking stride, yet when he attempts hot pursuit, Coyote slams into the rockface, unable to enter the space of his own painting.
#DanColen
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.
Now available
Gagosian Quarterly Spring 2023
The Spring 2023 issue of Gagosian Quarterly is now available, featuring Roe Ethridge’s Two Kittens with Yarn Ball (2017–22) on its cover.
Dan Colen: Other Worlds Are Possible
In this interview, curator and artist K.O. Nnamdie speaks with artist Dan Colen about his recent show in New York: Lover, Lover, Lover. Colen delves into the concept of “home” as it relates to his work, specifically the Mother and Woodworker series. Thinking through the political and historical implications of “homeland” in the context of the artist’s relationship with Israel and America, the two consider the intersections between these paintings—the final group of his Disney-inspired canvases—and Colen’s work with Sky High Farm, New York.
News
Online Reading
Dan Colen
High Noon
Dan Colen: High Noon is available for online reading from May 20 through June 19 as part of Artist Spotlight: Dan Colen. The book documents two performance pieces by the artist, Carry On Cowboy and At Least They Died Together (both 2018), and a related exhibition of Desert paintings (2015–19), presented at Gagosian, Beverly Hills. The volume features an essay by Douglas Fogle, as well as a conversation between Colen, Fogle, and choreographer Dimitri Chamblas.
Dan Colen: High Noon (New York: Gagosian, 2020)
Artist Spotlight
Dan Colen
May 20–26, 2020
Moving between diverse styles and subjects, Dan Colen investigates the conceptual stakes of materiality and mark making. Alongside explorations in unconventional mediums including chewing gum, flowers, and metal studs, he continually returns to oil painting and representation, conducting an ever-evolving inquiry into the objecthood and authority of painting as a medium.
Photo: Eric Piasecki
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)
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