Synopses & Reviews
Dan Colen’s trajectory of fame from brash, downtown artist whose cues were taken from the graffiti and skateboarding communities to a blue chip on the Gagosian roster, has been precipitous. He descended on the scene at the beginning of the twenty-first century during a go-go time of wealth, excess, and possibility through which he moved often sensationally and uproariously. Courted by Gagosian director Sam Orlofsky, Colen’s first show at the 24th Street space in Chelsea—in the bathroom— sold immediately. It was the beginning of what would prove to be a lasting representation.
Most famous for turning gum into paint and paint into bird excrement, Colen’s practice draws most frequently from mass media, environmental experience, and sub-cultural language. His work infuses a sense of magic in the undervalued and the ordinary and prizes the sublime in the detritus of the everyday.
Synopsis
This artists book documents Dan Colens 2011 exhibition at Gagosian Gallery in New York, as well as his June 2012 Gagosian exhibition in Paris. Drawing from mass media, local environment, and subculture, Dan Colens art imbues the ordinary, the disenfranchised, and the tribal with provocative new status. This publication includes over fifty new works, including Colens series of Grass, Gum, Confetti, and Stud, with extensive details of the works.
About the Author
Dan Colen (b. 1979, New Jersey) graduated in 2001 with a BFA in painting from the Rhode Island School of Design. Exhibitions include the 2006 Whitney Biennial, New York;
USA Today, The Royal Academy, London (2006);
Defamation of Character, PS1 Contemporary Art Center, Long Island, New York (2006);
Fantastic Politics, The National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design, Oslo (2006);
Skin Fruit: Selections from the Dakis Joannou Collection, The New Museum, New York (2010); and “Peanuts,” Astrup Fearnley (2011).
Harmony Korine is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and author. He is best known for writing Kids and for directing Gummo, Julien Donkey-Boy, and Mister Lonely.