Daniel Arsham
New York based artist Daniel Arsham straddles the line between art, architecture and performance. Raised in Miami, Arsham attended the Cooper Union in New York City where he received the Gelman Trust Fellowship Award in 2003. Architecture is a prevalent subject throughout his work; environments with eroded walls and stairs going nowhere, landscapes where nature overrides structures, and a general sense of playfulness within existing architecture. Arsham makes architecture do things it is not supposed to do, mining everyday experience for opportunities to confuse and confound our expectations of space and form. Simple yet paradoxical gestures dominate his sculptural work: a façade that appears to billow in the wind, a figure wrapped up in the surface of a wall, a contemporary object cast in volcanic ash as if it was found on some future archeological site. Structural experiment, historical inquiry, and satirical wit all combine in Arsham’s ongoing interrogation of the real and the imagined. In 2004, Arsham participated in the group show Miami Nice at Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin (Paris), which began to represent Arsham in 2005. As one of the founders of the seminal Miami artist-run spaces, “The House”, his interest in collaboration began early. In 2004 legendary choreographer Merce Cunningham asked Arsham to create the stage design for his work eyeSpace.
Following this Arsham toured with the Merce Cunningham Dance Company for performances in Australia, France, and multiple locations in the United States. Arsham’s first stage design for Cunningham was acquired by The Walker Museum for its permanent collection. Despite never being trained in stage design he has continued his practice, collaborating with Robert Wilson, as well as a sustained collaboration with Jonah Bokaer
who was a former Cunningham dancer. Arsham’s collaboration with Bokaer includes works performed worldwide at locations such as The New Museum, IVAM in Spain, The Hellenic Festival in Athens Greece, Jacobs Pillow dance festival in Massachusetts, as well as the prestigious Festival de Avignon. Arsham’s most recent collaboration with world renowned musician and producer Pharrell Williams involved the recreation in Volcanic Ash of Pharrell’s first keyboard. To further expand the possibilities of spatial manipulation and collaboration, Arsham founded Snarkitecture in 2007 with partner Alex Mustonen to serve new and imaginative purposes. Their multidisciplinary practice has included collaborations with designers Public School and Richard Chai, the entrance pavillion for Design Miami, as well as a complete line of functional design objects. Arsham’s work has been shown at PS1 in New York, The Museum of Contemporary Art in Miami, The Athens Bienniale in Athens, Greece, The New Museum In New York, Mills College Art Museum in Oakland, California and Carré d’Art de Nîmes, France among others. A first monograph of Arsham’s work was published by the French Centre National des arts plastiques and a second one was published by Galerie Perrotin in 2012. Arsham is represented by Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin in Paris, Hong Kong, New York, and Seoul, Moran Bondaroff in Los Angeles, Baro Galeria in Sao Paulo, Pippy Houldsworth in London, and Galerie Ron Mandos in Amsterdam.
1980 Born in Cleveland, Ohion, USA
2003 The Cooper Union, BFA
Lives and works in New York, USA
■ Solo Exhibitions
2022 180 The Strand, London, United Kingdom (forthcoming)
Pokemon of Future Past, Roppongi Hills, Tokyo, Japan
A Ripple in Time, Nanzuka Underground, Tokyo, Japan
Hidden Within the Tall Grass, Sogetsu Plaza Garden, Tokyo, Japan
Ancient Power: Hidden in the Ruins, Nanzuka 2G, Tokyo
Field Research, 3110NZ by LDH Kitchen, Tokyo
2021 Bronze Garden, 180 The Strand, London, United Kingdom
Unearthed, König Galerie, Berlin, Germany
Objects for Living: Collection II , Friedman Benda, New York, NY, USA
Turning Wrenches, Library Street Collective, Detroit, Michigan, USA
Sands of Time, UCCA Center for Contemporary Art, Dune, Aranya Gold Coast, Beidaihe, China
Time Dilation, Perrotin, New York, NY, USA
2020 Moonraker, Carte Blanche à Daniel Arsham, Musée Guimet, Paris, France Relics of Kanto Through Time, Nanzuka Gallery, Tokyo, Japan; Parco Museum Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
Paris 3020, Galerie Perrotin, Paris, France
Life on Europa, Eden Rock, Saint Barth
2019 HOW Museum, Shanghai, China
The Source: A Catalog of Late-20th-Century American Relics, Cranbrook Art Museum, Detroit, MI
Connecting Time, MOCO Museum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Static Mythologies, Ron Mandos, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2018 “3018,” Perrotin New York, USA
カラー・シャドウ (Color Shadow), Perrotin Tokyo, Japan
アーキテクチャー・アノマリーズ (Architectural Anamolies), Nanzuka Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Moran Moran, Los Angeles, CA
Moon Stone, Wall House Museum, Saint Barth
2017 The Angel of Repose, Galerie Perrotin, Paris, France
Moving Architecture, VDNKh, Moscow, Russia
It Speaks, Oi Futuro, Rio de Jainero, Brazil
Lunar Garden, Visionaire, New York, NY, USA
Crystal Toys, Perrotin, Seoul, South Korea
Hyundai Motorstudios, Seoul, South Korea
Hourglass, High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA
2016 Galerie Perrotin, New York, NY, USA
My First Show in Japan, Year 2044, Nanzuka Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
The Future Was Then, SCAD Museum of Art, Savannah, GA
Moons and Music, Eden Rock Gallery, St. Barths, French West Indies
2015 The Future Was Written, Young Arts, Miami, FL
Fictional Archeology, Galerie Perrotin, Hong Kong
Parades Móveis, Baro Galería, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Formless Figure Watermill Center, Watermill, NY, USA
Remember the Future, Contemporary Art Center, Cincinnati, OH
A Special Project for Leica, Leica Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2014 Welcome to the Future, Locust Projects, Miami, FL
Pippy Houldsworth Gallery, London, UK
The Future is Always Now, Galerie Perrotin, Paris
Volcanic Ash, Rusted Steel, Baro Galeria, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Kick the Tires and Light the Fires, OHWOW Gallery, Los Angeles, USA
2013 #FUTUREARCHIVE, Galerie Perrotin, Hong Kong, China
#FUTUREARCHIVE, Louis Vuitton exhibition space, Singapore (in collaboration with SOTA art school)
#TOMORROWPAST, Ron Mandos Gallery, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
#RECOLLECTIONS, Pippy Houldsworth Gallery, London, UK
2012 STORM, Galerie Perrotin, Paris, France
Reach Ruin, The Fabric Workshop Museum, Philadelphia, PA, USA
Project at The Box, Pippy Houldsworth Gallery, London, UK
Set design for Curtain, a dance collaboration between Jonah Bokaer and David Hallberg, Festival d’Avignon, Sujets à Vif, Avignon, France
the fall, the ball and the wall, OHWOW Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Commemorative Marker in collaboration with Snarkitecture, Marlins Ballpark, Miami, FL, USA
2011 Set design for Merce Cunningham Dance Company’s last performances, Park Avenue Armory, New York, NY, USA
Dig, in collaboration with OHWOW Gallery and Galerie Perrotin, Store Front for Art and Architecture, New York, NY, USA
2010 Alter, Galerie Perrotin, Miami, FL, USA
Animal Architecture Galerie Perrotin, Paris, France
Avalanche , set design for the performance of Merce Cunningham’s company at Adrienne Arscht Center, Miami, FL, USA
2009 Set design for Merce Cunningham Dance Company’s Paris Performances, France
2008 Beacon/Miami at Bank of America tower, Miami Art Museum, Miami, FL, USA
The Undoing, Galerie Perrotin, Miami, FL, USA
Playground, Galerie Perrotin, Paris, France
Something Light, Ron Mandos Gallery, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
2007 Playground, Gertrude Street, Melbourne, Australia
Merce Cunningham: Dancing on the Cutting Edge Part II, MOCA at Goldman Warehouse, Miami, FL, USA
yeSpace, a collaboration with Merce Cunningham, The Miami Performing Arts Center, Miami, FL, USA
2006 Building Schmuilding, Galerie Perrotin, Miami, FL, USA
2005 Homesick, Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin, Paris
■ Selected Group Exhibitions
2021 Frieze Sculpture 2021, curated by Claire Lilley, London, United Kingdom
Parallel Worlds, Nassima Landau, Tel Aviv, Israel
Idoles. L’art des Cyclades et de l’Anatolie à l’Age du bronze, curated by Ludovic Laugier, Musée Fenaille, Rodez, France
Les Extatiques, curated by Fabrice Bousteau, Paris La Défense, Paris, France
2020 To the Hoop: Basketball and Contemporary Art, curated by Emily Stamey, Ph.D., Weatherspoon Art Museum, UNC Greensboro, Greensboro, NC
NGV Triennial, National Gallery Vancouver, Melbourne, Australia
2019 Crystal: Visible and Invisible, curated by Joachim Pissaro, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, AR
Chairs Beyond Right and Wrong, Curated by Raquel Cayre, R & Company, New York, NY
2018 Mickey: The True Original, curated by Darren Romanelli, New York, NY
Héritage, Centre d’art contemporain départemental l’arTsenal, Freux, France
Eco-Visionaries, curated by Pedro Gadanho and Mariana Pestana, Museu Arte Arquitetura Tecnologia, Lisbon, Portugal
2017 Art Festival Watou, Schore, Belgium
Jump Ball, Dio Horio Contemporary Art Platform, Mykonos, Greece
2016 Yichuan Biennial of Contemporary Art, Ningxia, China
The Human Condition, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Shrines to Speed, Leila Heller Gallery, New York, NY, USA
2015 Artistes et Architecture Dimensions Variables, Pavillon de l’Arsenal, Paris, France
Invento, OCA Museum, Sao Paulo, Brazil
2014 Post-Pop: East Meets West, Saatchi Gallery, London, UK
Art in Embassies, US Embassy in London, UK
Resonance(s), Maison Particuliere, Brussels, Belgium
Shattered: Contemporary Sculpture in Glass, Frederik Meijer, Gardens and Sculpture Park, MI – Creation contemporaine a New York, Musee d’Art Moderne, Saint Etienne, France
2013 Homebodies, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, USA
2012 Next Wave Art, Brooklyn Academy of Music, NY, USA
Célébrations, Rêve de nature, Musée de Valence hors les murs, Valence, France
I’m Over Here Now, Richmond Center for the Visual Arts, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI, USA
2011 RECESS, set design and performance, in collaboration with Jonah Bokaer, Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, MA, USA
Why Patterns, set design in collaboration with Snarkitecture, Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, MA, USA
It Ain’t Fair: Materialism, OHWOW Gallery, Miami, FL, USA
Flash: Light, Festival of Ideas for the New City, New Museum, New York, NY, USA
The Past is a Grotesque Animal, In Extenso, Clermont-Ferrand, France
2010 Look Again, Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art (SECCA), Winston Salem, NC, USA
The Maginot Line, David Castillo Gallery, Miami, FL, USA
It Ain’t Fair 2010, OHWOW Gallery, Miami, FL, USA
Memories of the Future, Sean Kelly Gallery, New York, NY, USA
REPLICA, set design and performance, MOCA, Miami, FL, USA
REPLICA, set design and performance, Musée d’Art Contemporain, Marseille, France
REPLICA, setd esign and performance, Hellenic Festival, Athens, Greece
Why Patterns, set design in collaboration with Snarkitecture, Rotterdamse Shouwburg, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
2009 Projections, Carré d’art de Nîmes, Nîmes, France
Heaven, 2nd Athens Biennale, Athens, Greece
Painting the Glass House: Artists Revisit Modern Architecture, curated by Jessica Hough & Monica R. Montagut, Mills College Art Museum, Oakland, CA, USA
On From Here, Guild and Greyshkul, New York, NY, USA
Luna Park, Alejandra von Hartz Gallery, Miami, FL, USA
Quand je serais grand, Galerie Jeanroch Dard, Paris, France
REPLICA, performance at IVAM in Frontiers of Time, curated by Bob Wilson, Valencia, Spain
REPLICA, performance, New Museum, New York, NY, USA
2008 The Fireplace project, East Hampton, NY, USA
Thoughts on Democracy: Reintereriting Norman Rockwell’s ‘Four Freedoms’ Posters, The Wolfsonian-FIU, Miami Beach, FL, USA
Reunion, The Fireplace Project, East Hampton, NY, USA
Painting the Glass House: Artists Revisit Modern Architecture, curated by Jessica Hough & Monica R. Montagut, Yale School for Architecture Gallery, New Haven, CT, USA
Painting the Glass House: Artists Revisit Modern Architecture, curated by Jessica Hough & Monica R. Montagut, The Aldrich Museum, Ridgefield, CT, USA
2007 Guild, curated by Daniel Arsham, Galerie Perrotin, Miami, FL, USA
2006 Fresh!, The Museum Of Glass, Seattle, WA, USA
Miami in Transition, Miami Art Museum, Miami, FL, USA
2005 Greater New York, P.S.1 Museum of Contemporary Art, Long Island, NY, USA
Wanderlust, Julia Friedman Gallery, New York, NY, USA
2004 Miami Nice, Galerie Perrotin, Paris, France
In Advance of a Broken Heart, (As part of SALT), The Wolfsonian Museum, Miami, FL, USA
Obituary, Placemaker, Miami, FL, USA
In Situ, The Museum of Contemporary Art, Miami, FL, USA
Ten Times the Space Between Night and Day, Guild and Greyshkul, New York, NY, USA
I am the Resurrection, Locust Projects, Miami, FL, USA
Remote Control, M&M Proyectos, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2003 Ever, Placemaker, Miami, FL, USA
Customized, Rocket Projects, Miami, FL, USA
Untitled, (A Sentimental Education), Fredric Snitzer Gallery, Miami, FL, USA
Kiss Me Quick Before I Change my Mind, The House, Miami, FL, USA
2002 Meta, The House, Miami, FL, USA
NO SHOW, Fredric Snitzer Gallery, Coral Gables, FL, USA
15/Caliber, Barbara Gillman Gallery, Miami, FL, USA
Miami in Manhattan, Wooster Projects, New York, NY, USA
2001 The House at MoCA, curated by Bonnie Clearwater, The Museum of Contemporary Art, Miami, FL, USA
The Sears Building, curated by Robert Chambers, The House, Miami, FL, USA
Special Projects, Art in General, New York, NY, USA
Time in Space, The House, Miami, FL, USA
■ Public Collections
– Blanton Museum of Art at the University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX
– Centre Pompidou, Paris, France
– DIOR Collection, Paris, France
– The Four Seasons Miami Collection, FL
– Georgia Museum of Art, University of Georgia, Athens, GA
– Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami, FL
– Musée Guimet, Paris, France
– National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia
– National Museum of Qatar, Doha, Qatar
– Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM), FL
– Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), RI
– Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN
■ Awards
2003 Recipient of the Gelman Trust Fellowship