Events
In Conversation
Dan Colen, Aimee Meredith Cox, Hank Willis Thomas
Moderated by Ora Wise
Thursday, May 6, 2021, 5pm edt
In partnership with Dover Street Market, Gagosian will host an online conversation between Dan Colen, artist and founder of Sky High Farm, Aimee Meredith Cox, associate professor of Anthropology and African American Studies at Yale University and author of the award-winning monograph Shapeshifters: Black Girls and the Choreography of Citizenship, and Hank Willis Thomas, Conceptual artist and cofounder of For Freedoms. Moderated by Ora Wise, executive director of Sky High Farm, the group will explore the transformative power of art making, the politics of collaboration, and the role of creative expression within social justice movements. To join, register at eventbrite.com.
This talk is part of a tribute, organized by Frieze New York, honoring the Vision & Justice Project and its founder Sarah Elizabeth Lewis. The Vision & Justice Project is dedicated to examining art’s central role in understanding the relationship between race and citizenship in the United States.
Left to right: Dan Colen. Photo: Andrew Zuckerman. Aimee Meredith Cox. Photo: Frederick Williams. Hank Willis Thomas. Photo: Andrea Blanch. Ora Wise. Photo: Stephen Vixjo
In Conversation
Regenerative Farming and Food Justice
Dan Colen and Jon Gray
Thursday, August 20, 2020, 8pm EDT
Join Dan Colen, artist and founder of Sky High Farm, and Jon Gray, cofounder of Ghetto Gastro, for a conversation on regenerative farming and food justice. Moderated by Patagonia environmental coordinator Rebecca Goodstein, the pair will discuss the intersections between regenerative organic agriculture farming, food justice, art, and the COVID-19 pandemic. To watch the live conversation, register at patagonia.com.
Sky High Farm, Columbia County, New York
Panel Discussion
Food Justice and Security
Dan Colen, Linda Goode Bryant, and Qiana Mickie in Conversation with Sonia Chopra
Thursday, August 6, 2020, 5pm EDT
Join Gagosian and 92nd Street Y for a conversation on contemporary food justice and community food security. The presentation will feature three speakers working in the field: Dan Colen, artist and founder of Sky High Farm, a nonprofit working to improve access to nutritious food for New Yorkers in underserved communities; gallerist and filmmaker Linda Goode Bryant, founder of Project EATS, an urban farming initiative aimed at sustainable food production in low income communities in New York City; and Qiana Mickie, special projects consultant for Just Food, a pioneer in food justice and an advocate for sustainable agriculture with an emphasis on community-driven solutions to inequities in our food system. The discussion will be moderated by writer Sonia Chopra, executive editor of Bon Appétit, and co-executive producer of No Passport Required on PBS. To attend the event, purchase tickets at 92y.org. A portion of ticket sales will be donated to Just Food, Project EATS, and Sky High Farm.
Vegetables from Sky High Farm being prepared for distribution in New York
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)
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
Announcements
Partnership
Dan Colen × Dover Street Market
Twelve brands create exclusive merchandise to support Sky High Farm
Following their February 2020 partnership, Sky High Farm and Dover Street Market are launching an ambitious yearlong project featuring merchandise collaborations across the industries of fashion, art, film, food, and design. For the first iteration, Sky High Farm founder Dan Colen has selected twelve independently minded brands allied by a shared sense of civic responsibility to create exclusive garments or accessories bearing the farm’s signature artwork—created by Joana Avillez—to be sold online and at Dover Street Market’s New York and Los Angeles locations. Raising both funds and awareness, the collaboration will support Sky High Farm’s commitment to standing up against inequity in our food systems and to providing sustenance, nutrition, healing, and new opportunities for underserved communities.
Sky High Farm T-shirts with illustrations by Joana Avillez. Photo: Quil Lemons
Support
Sky High Farm
Dan Colen founded Sky High Farm in 2011 as a way to address food insecurity and improve access to fresh, nutritious food for underserved communities in New York. Located in Columbia County, New York, the 40-acre farm raises pasture-based livestock and grows organic fruit and vegetables exclusively for donation. Recently recognized as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, the organization is raising funds to help expand its reach in the next decade. Donations will be used to increase production, scale up distribution, support other regional farms, and create educational opportunities. To donate, visit charity.gofundme.com.
Sky High Farm, Columbia County, New York
Partnership
Dan Colen × Dover Street Market
Dan Colen and Dover Street Market have teamed up to create a line of clothing and farm goods to be sold through the retail store to support Sky High Farm, founded by Colen in 2011. All proceeds will be donated to the 40-acre farm in upstate New York, which aims to address food security and nutrition by sustainably growing and harvesting fresh produce and raising livestock exclusively for donation to underserved communities. The collection includes vintage-sourced, naturally tie-dyed tees and other apparel, as well as honey, jam, tea, salt, and tomatoes grown and jarred on the farm.
Sky High Farm collection on display at Dover Street Market, Los Angeles, 2019
Initiative
Dan Colen
Sky High Farm
In 2011, Dan Colen founded Sky High Farm in New York’s Hudson Valley. Committed to addressing food insecurity and improving access to fresh, nutritious food for underserved communities in New York, Sky High Farm grows fresh fruits and vegetables and raises livestock exclusively for the purposes of donation. The farm operates with a sustainable and regenerative farming model. It also collaborates with nonprofits and government agencies to provide education and work training programs. In addition to Sky High, Colen has contributed extensive fundraising efforts to Henry Street Settlement, whose programming and social services have made a huge impact on Manhattan’s Lower East Side.
Sky High Farm, Hudson Valley, New York
Award
Dan Colen
RxART honors Dan Colen with the RxART Inspiration Award at their annual party on November 9, 2017 in New York. In March 2017 Colen finished an ambitious and complex installation titled Moments like this… at St. Mary’s Hospital, which was organized in collaboration with RxART. The facility will serve a community of 2,000 children and adolescents living with acute special needs and medical conditions. Tickets are available by contacting party@rxart.net.
Photo: Christopher Burke Studio
Video
Art Talk! on Vice
Dan Colen
In this 2011 interview with Vice, Dan Colen walks through his New York studio and explains his nontraditional entry into the art world.
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
Works from the Astrup Fearnley Collection
May 24–September 15, 2018
Astrup Fearnley Museet, Oslo
www.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