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Dan Colen

Trash

September 19–October 29, 2011
Rome

Dan Colen: Trash Installation view, photo by Matteo Piazza

Dan Colen: Trash

Installation view, photo by Matteo Piazza

Dan Colen: Trash Installation view, photo by Matteo Piazza

Dan Colen: Trash

Installation view, photo by Matteo Piazza

Dan Colen: Trash Installation view, photo by Matteo Piazza

Dan Colen: Trash

Installation view, photo by Matteo Piazza

Dan Colen: Trash Installation view, photo by Matteo Piazza

Dan Colen: Trash

Installation view, photo by Matteo Piazza

Dan Colen: Trash Installation view, photo by Matteo Piazza

Dan Colen: Trash

Installation view, photo by Matteo Piazza

Works Exhibited

Dan Colen, "There was no possibility of a bargain being struck", 2011 Trash and paint on canvas, 105 × 85 inches (266.7 × 215.9 cm)

Dan Colen, "There was no possibility of a bargain being struck", 2011

Trash and paint on canvas, 105 × 85 inches (266.7 × 215.9 cm)

Dan Colen, Hand of Fate, 2011 Trash and paint on canvas, 126 × 97 inches, (320 × 246.4 cm)Photo by Giorgio Benni

Dan Colen, Hand of Fate, 2011

Trash and paint on canvas, 126 × 97 inches, (320 × 246.4 cm)
Photo by Giorgio Benni

Dan Colen, "What is wanted is some secret feeling of an administrator, a sort of intendant to whom the important tasks may be entrusted so as to leave you free for the very necessary task of idleness that is a condition, the condition, of your being", 2011 Trash and paint on canvas, 121 × 97 × 9 ⅝ inches, (307.3 × 246.4 × 24.5cm)Photo by Giorgio Benni

Dan Colen, "What is wanted is some secret feeling of an administrator, a sort of intendant to whom the important tasks may be entrusted so as to leave you free for the very necessary task of idleness that is a condition, the condition, of your being", 2011

Trash and paint on canvas, 121 × 97 × 9 ⅝ inches, (307.3 × 246.4 × 24.5cm)
Photo by Giorgio Benni

Dan Colen, The Women's Movement / Crazy Mamma, 2011 Trash and paint on canvas, 111 ⅜ × 85 13/16 × 17 11/16 inches, (283 × 218 × 45cm)Photo by Giorgio Benni

Dan Colen, The Women's Movement / Crazy Mamma, 2011

Trash and paint on canvas, 111 ⅜ × 85 13/16 × 17 11/16 inches, (283 × 218 × 45cm)
Photo by Giorgio Benni

Dan Colen, Memory Motel, 2011 Trash and paint on canvas, 126 × 103 ⅞ × 14 ⅜inches, (320 × 264 × 36.5cm)Photo by Giorgio Benni

Dan Colen, Memory Motel, 2011

Trash and paint on canvas, 126 × 103 ⅞ × 14 ⅜inches, (320 × 264 × 36.5cm)
Photo by Giorgio Benni

Dan Colen, Cherry Oh Baby, 2011 Trash and paint on canvas, 115 ⅝ × 85 × 11 ⅜ inches, (293.5 × 216 × 29cm)Photo by Giorgio Benni

Dan Colen, Cherry Oh Baby, 2011

Trash and paint on canvas, 115 ⅝ × 85 × 11 ⅜ inches, (293.5 × 216 × 29cm)
Photo by Giorgio Benni

Dan Colen, "She doesn't want to talk about love she says she just wants to make love but she talks about it almost endlessly", 2011 Trash and paint on canvas, 126 × 102 13/16 × 7 ⅞ inches, (320 × 261 × 20cm)Photo by Giorgio Benni

Dan Colen, "She doesn't want to talk about love she says she just wants to make love but she talks about it almost endlessly", 2011

Trash and paint on canvas, 126 × 102 13/16 × 7 ⅞ inches, (320 × 261 × 20cm)
Photo by Giorgio Benni

About

I’m interested in using the “real world” as a material and a force within my process. I like how these materials take some control away from me, allowing for a more uncertain future and yet a more finished piece. These materials come with a history, not one I necessarily know, but a history for sure. There is an infinity in “real world objects” that, no matter how much I try, I couldn’t paint or sculpt into being.
—Dan Colen

Gagosian Gallery Rome is pleased to announce Dan Colen’s first major exhibition in Rome.

In “Poetry,” a large-scale exhibition at Gagosian New York last year, Colen moved closer to reality while plumbing its metaphysical potential. Rather than “deceiving the eye” with techniques that mimic real materials, he used the real materials themselves – a brick wall, a halfpipe, and a row of customized motorcycles — transforming them in bold and singular acts, and on a scale befitting his romance with environment. Since this time, Colen has been pushing his studio practice, defined with a band of constant collaborators, into a knowingly “informal” realm where the mark (or trace of action) remains live and visible, rather than sublimated or concealed. Trying to control what transpires while making sure that all gestures are sincere is an internal and external struggle that has been instrumental in forming Colen’s relationship to his own work.

Colen’s current phase of artistic development brings to mind Charles Baudelaire’s flâneur “who walks the city in order to experience it". While on one hand Baudelaire characterized the flâneur as a disinterested dandy possessed of detached but aesthetically attuned observation, he also attributed to this character a key role in understanding, participating in, and portraying the city. Over time, the flâneur has accumulated significant historical and sociological meaning as a referent for understanding urban phenomena and modernity, to the point of embodying a complete philosophical way of living and thinking. Spinning through the aesthetic grist of streetwalking artists – from Robert Rauschenberg to David Hammons and Gabriel Orozco – in order to revitalize the very stuff and syntax of painting, Colen combines the intensity of real life with reflection on the subjects of immanence and belief.

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Mi interessa utilizzare il “mondo reale” come materia e forza nel mio processo artistico. Mi piace il modo in cui questi materiali sfuggono in parte al mio controllo, facendo emergere un futuro incerto ma allo stesso tempo dando vita ad un lavoro più definito. Questi materiali hanno una storia, non necessariamente una che io conosca, ma di certo ne hanno una. Non importa quanto io ci provi, gli “oggetti reali” posseggono un’infinità che non riuscirei a definire attraverso la pittura o la scultura.
—Dan Colen

Gagosian Gallery è lieta di annunciare la prima grande mostra di Dan Colen a Roma.

In “Poetry”, l’importante mostra tenutasi nel 2010 presso la Gagosian Gallery di New York, Colen si è avvicinato alla realtà scavandone le potenzialità metafisiche. Invece che ingannare lo sguardo con tecniche che emulano materiali reali, l’artista li aveva effettivamente utilizzati- un muro di mattoni, una rampa e una fila di motociclette personalizzate - trasformandoli in atti audaci e singolari, su scala così imponente da rispecchiare in pieno la sua passione per l’ambiente. Da allora Colen spinge il suo lavoro, coadiuvato anche da un gruppo di assidui collaboratori, verso un regno prettamente e consapevolmente informale; il segno che ne scaturisce (la traccia dell’azione) invece che venire sublimato o nascosto, resta così vivo e visibile. Il tentativo di tenere il controllo su ciò che emerge mantenendo comunque intatta la purezza dell’azione, rappresenta la lotta continua, interna ed esterna, che nutre la relazione tra Colen e la sua opera.

L’attuale fase creativa dell’artista ricorda il flâneur di Charles Baudelaire “che vaga per la città per conoscerla”. Se da un lato Baudelaire definiva il flâneur un dandy disinteressato dotato di potere di osservazione distaccato, sebbene perspicace in ambito estetico, dall’altro gli attribuiva un ruolo chiave di comprensione, partecipazione e rappresentazione della città. Il flâneur ha acquisito gradualmente significato storico e sociale, fino a diventare punto di riferimento per comprendere i fenomeni urbani e la modernità, nonchè simbolo di un modo unico e filosofico di vivere e pensare. Colen ripercorre i margini estetici di artisti di strada - da Robert Rauschenberg a David Hammons e Gabriel Orozco - per ridare vita all’essenza e alla sintassi della pittura, unendo l’intensità della vita reale alla riflessione sui temi dell’immanenza e dell’introspezione.

La mostra “Trash” rende evidente e tangibile il modo in cui l’artista ha imparato a lavorare con oggetti e materiali di scarto indagando le storie di ognuno e mostrandone le energie latenti - come attrezzi di pittura, impronte, ed elementi fisici che a volte rimangono incollati sulla tela cessando di muoversi. Gli intensi dipinti di Colen ripropongono le ricerche sulla gravità e sul concetto di superficie come piano d’appoggio caratteristiche della metà del secolo scorso. Gli esperimenti radicali dei suoi predecessori erano composti da numerosi elementi — dalla pittura pura all’oggetto riutilizzato — la cui somma totale costituiva l’opera. Qui l’energico scarto di strada — una scarpa infradito, un barattolo di vernice, stracci, corde, bottiglie, gomme e così via - diventa lo strumento attraverso il quale l’atto pittorico si anima sulla tela fino a che entrambe le componenti, l’oggetto e la pittura, raggiungono la quiete. Così ogni dipinto rimane una testimonianza forte e fresca del presente e di un’esperienza viscerale, donando momenti inattesi di trascendenza.

Dan Colen è nato nel 1979 nel New Jersey e si è laureato in Pittura presso la Rhode Island School of Art and Design nel 2001. Ha partecipato alla Whitney Biennial, New York (2006) e alle mostre “USA Today” presso la Royal Academy, Londra (2006); “Defamation of Character” presso il PS1 Contemporary Art Center, Long Island, New York (2006) e “Fantastic Politics” presso il National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design, Oslo (2006). Tra le mostre più recenti si annoverano “Skin Fruit: Selections from the Dakis Joannou Collection” presso il New Museum di New York (2010) e “Peanuts” presso l’Astrup Fearnley Museum di Oslo (2011).

Roe Ethridge's Two Kittens with Yarn Ball (2017–22) on the cover of Gagosian Quarterly, Spring 2023

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, Mother (Intersection), 2021–22, oil on canvas, 59 × 151 inches (149.9 × 383.5 cm)

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.

Sky High Farm Symposium at Judd Foundation: The Art Panel

Sky High Farm Symposium at Judd Foundation: The Art Panel

In this video, Deana Haggag, program officer, Arts and Culture at Mellon Foundation; Dan Colen, artist and founder of Sky High Farm; Linda Goode Bryant, artist and founder of Project EATS; and Diya Vij, curator at Creative Time sit down together to explore the roles of artist and audience, place and accessibility, legacy, capital influence, and individual vs. collective agency as they relate to artmaking today.

Sky High Farm Symposium at Judd Foundation: The Community Panel

Sky High Farm Symposium at Judd Foundation: The Community Panel

In this video, Thelma Golden, chief curator and director of the Studio Museum in Harlem; Tremaine Emory, founder of Denim Tears and creative director of Supreme; Father Mike Lopez, founder of the Hungry Monk Rescue Truck; and artist Anicka Yi sit down to explore how the concept of community has shaped their work, and the power in seeing the places we live, our histories, and even our bodies as porous, interdependent, and alive.

Sky High Farm Symposium at Judd Foundation: The Land Panel

Sky High Farm Symposium at Judd Foundation: The Land Panel

In this video, Veronica Davidov, visual and environmental anthropologist; Karen Washington, activist, farmer and co-founder of Black Urban Growers (BUGS) and co-owner of Rise & Root Farm; Candice Hopkins, curator, writer and executive director of Forge Project; and Haley Mellin, artist, conservationist and founder of Art to Acres sit down to explore the tensions and overlaps between different efforts to define, use, and protect land.

Carrie Mae Weems’s The Louvre (2006), on the cover of Gagosian Quarterly, Summer 2021

Now available
Gagosian Quarterly Summer 2021

The Summer 2021 issue of Gagosian Quarterly is now available, featuring Carrie Mae Weems’s The Louvre (2006) on its cover.

News

Photo: Eric Piasecki

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