July 22, 2009

About the Photographer

Gordon, Daniel

American, b. 1980

Daniel Gordon’s artistic practice oscillates between photography, collage and sculpture. Typically the artist works with cut-and-paste technique, combining the analogue with the digital and merging 2D and 3D. His visual language draws upon the rich history of collage, photo-montage and appropriation art while also referencing traditional genres like still life and portraiture. Gordon uses found footage images, spending hours on google image search and flipping through magazines. He handcrafts the cut-out pictures into three-dimensional objects or collages, assembling the pieces into a still life scenery in his studio. With an 8x10 large format camera he photographs these spatial tableaus, transferring them once again into the two-dimensional. This multi-level process is a very important aspect in Gordon’s work. The rough edges and folds of the paper cut-outs are visible in the final photographs as well as his use of digital image editing. Gordon changes the color of objects, collages them, ads noise - these steps are not hidden, but become part of the work. For the photographs "Salmon Skin" (2010) and "July 22, 2009" (2009) that are part of MoCP’s collection, Gordon focuses on the human body. Collaging printed and cut-out images of body parts, he pushes the idea of portraiture while also addressing the topic of vulnerability and vanity.

Daniel Gordon received his BA from Bard College (2004) and MA from the Yale School of Art (2006). Gordon has held solo exhibitions at M+B, Los Angeles, CA (2017); Wallspace, New York, NY (2014, 2011); Foam Museum, Amsterdam (2014); and Leo Koenig Projekte, New York, NY (2009). His work was included in group exhibitions at Foam Museum, Amsterdam (2014); Saatchi Gallery, London (2012); NRW-Forum, Duesseldorf (2012); MoMA PS1, New York, NY (2010); and Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY (2009), among others. He published the books Still Lifes, Portraits, and Parts (Mörel, 2013), Flowers and Shadows (Onestar Press, 2011) and Flying Pictures (powerhouse Books, 2009). His works can be found in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY; the Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY; Foam Museum, Amsterdam; VandenBroek Foundation, Lisse, Netherlands; and Pier 24, San Francisco, CA. He is the winner of the 2014 Foam Paul Huf Award. He lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.