Daniel Arsham

Daniel Arsham is a contemporary American artist born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1980. He currently lives and works in New York City and Miami, Florida.

Background

Daniel Arsham, in conjunction with fellow Miami-based artists Bhakti Baxter, Martin Oppel, and Tao Rey, first began exhibiting work in the first floor of their rented bungalow in the Edgewater neighborhood of Miami, Florida. "The House," as it came to be known, garnered attention from art-world pioneer and head curator of the Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami, Bonnie Clearwater. In 2001, MOCA North Miami held "The House at MOCA," a show curated by Bonnie Clearwater and exhibiting artists that had previously shown in "The House." The show exposed the work of Daniel Arsham and many of his peers to a broad and international audience. "The House" was demolished in 2004 to make way for a condominium development.

In 2003, Daniel Arsham graduated from Cooper Union in New York City and received the Gelman Trust Fellowship Award. After graduation, Arsham returned to Miami to continue participating in the growing art-scene. Funded by the Gelman Trust Fellowship Award, Arsham and Oppel opened "Placemaker," an artist-run gallery space where many Miami-based artists had their first solo exhibitions. Placemaker gallery participated in Art Basel Miami Beach Art Positions in 2003. Placemaker closed in 2005.

Galleries

Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin

In 2004 Daniel Arsham participated in the group show "Miami Nice" at Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin in Paris. Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin, the first large, international gallery to stake real interest in Miami's cultural renaissance, had recently purchased a large two-story space in the Wynwood section of Miami. The gallery's permanent locations in Paris and Miami afforded it the unique ability to export the emerging talent of South Florida to the center of the international art-scene. "Miami Nice," curated by George Lindemann, brought together 11 Miami-based artists and gave some of them their first international recognition. This was Daniel Arsham's first show abroad.

The Miami Nice exhibition would mark the beginning of a relationship between Arsham and Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin. In 2005 Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin began to represent Arsham. He had his first solo show, "Homesick," at Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin in Paris that year. In 2006, Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin hosted Arsham's first solo show in Miami,"Building Schmuilding," as well. That same year, Arsham would also have a solo show with Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin at the annual Frieze Art Fair in London.

In 2007 Arsham curated an exhibition for Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin, a show entitled "Guild." Traditionally, a guild exists to ensure the standard and quality of a certain craft. This exhibition showed artist's whose works intersect with the practice of a certain craft. The show included artists John Bucklin, Friends With You, Keneth Andrew Mroczek, Dennis Palazzolo, as well as Arsham's own work.

Publications

In 2008 Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin published Daniel Arsham's first mongograph. The publication was partially funded by a grant from CNAP, Centre Nationale des arts plastique.

RonMandos Gallery

In 2008, the Amsterdam based RonMandos Gallery exhibited "Something Light," a solo show of Arsham's work. The gallery has since been representing Arsham.

Collaboration with Merce Cunningham

In 2006 legendary modern dance choreographer Merce Cunningham asked Arsham to design the set, lighting and costumes for his piece, eyeSpace." The performance premiered in 2007 at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Miami. Since then, "eyeSpace" has toured extensively around the world. As part of the 2007 Melbourne International Arts Festival, the Merce Cunningham Dance Company performed "eyeSpace" at the State Theater in Melbourne, Australia. Concurrent with the festival were two solo exhibitions at Gertrude Street Gallery in Melbourne; Daniel Arsham's show entitled "Playground" as well as Sigur Rós singer, Jón Þór Birgisson's side project Riceboy Sleeps.

Architectural Interventions

Dior Homme

Hedi Slimane, former head-designer for Dior Homme, began a pattern of commissioning artists to do the complete interior design for the fitting rooms of Dior Homme stores. In 2005, Arsham was commissioned by Slimane to design the fitting rooms for Dior Homme's Los Angeles shop. Slimane's only limitations were that the rooms have "a hook, a seat and a mirror." The works commissioned by Slimane are unique to each Dior Homme location. Arsham's design incorporates his signature plaster erosions: the white fitting room walls seem to melt onto the bench, the mirror appears to have been excavated from the wall. Other artists commissioned by Slimane to design for Dior Homme stores include Banks Violette, Doug Aitken, and Pierre Huyghe.

Beacon/Miami

During Art Basel Miami Beach, and in collaboration with the Miami Art Museum, Arsham coordinated a show of lights on the Bank of America Tower in Miami. The Bank of America Tower in Miami, originally known as the CenTrust building, is an architectural landmark in the city's skyline. Designed by I.M. Pei and completed in 1987, the tower has been the site of bright and colorful nightly illuminations since its construction. The work, entitled "Beacon/Miami" involved a team of participants who interrupted the normal architectural illumination of the top 17 floors of the 47-story building. The aim was to call attention to the structure by the simple removal of light. In orchestrated harmony, the participants covered and uncovered the light sources for the illumination of the top floors. The result showed waves of light and dark pulsating on the tower's top 17 stories.

Continued Collaborations

Double Negative

In 2007 Jonah Bokaer [16] performed choreography inspired by Arsham's work at Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin in Paris. Jonah Bokaer, previously a dancer for the Merce Cunningham Dance Company, is a media-artist and choreographer. Bokaer and Arsham are currently collaborating on "Double Negative," a piece that incorporates built space, objects, and lighting in an exploration of memory loss, pattern recognition, and perceptual faculties.

Merce Cunningham

Arsham continues to collaborate with Merce Cunningham on the set design for the company's Paris performances.

Snarkitecture

Snarkitecture is an architecture practice started by Arsham and Alex Mustonen in 2008. Rather than make architecture, the interest of Snarkitecture lies in the exploration of existing materials within a space and how they might be manipulated to serve a new and imaginative purpose. The firm makes architecture do things its not supposed to do. Snarkitecture works on existing architecture or collaborates with architects on existing projects.