Introduce yourself
Hey, I’m Danny I’m a 25-year-old painter originally from Chicago currently living in Detroit. I’m a Libra and my favorite food is BBQ ribs.
When did you first get involved with art? And when was that first time when you noticed you wanted to do this for the rest of your life?
My earliest art memory is trying to paint the Incredible Hulk when I was 8 and it was a terrible painting and I got mad and trashed it. I started setting aside time to draw every night after school when I was 14 and sad all the time and have maintained some sort of drawing/painting regimen since then. Working with my hands has always been therapeutic and I think it became part of my life that way.
I want to dive into the meaning behind some of your pieces. Daydream at a stoplight is one of my favorite pieces of yours. Talk about this piece.
For sure. It’s a print for my first professional show at Chicago Truborn in 2015 with the very good Pizza in the Rain. The show combined elements of nature and the city, that piece is about daydreaming about being outside when you’re stuck in traffic. It was inspired by one of my favorite printmakers Kathe Kollwitz.
What inspired the Flower Boy series?
I made those in 2016 in my apartment when I first moved to Detroit. I needed money and made prints that I felt could stand alone and as a trio and help me make rent. I was experimenting with obtuse approaches to portraiture and narratives (which is why each figure has a different form of transportation in their head). I ultimately turned one of the boys into a mural that was on Milwaukee in Logan Square for a while.
And the Anaglyph Series?
I made these in I think 2014 as part of my senior thesis in college combining neuroscience and visual arts. My thesis show was about visual processes and surveillance, both biologically and in society. The imagery was viewable with 3D glasses so it would pop out in the room.
You are one who dabbles in street art, public art, fine art, and studio art. Have you seen the boundaries between these mediums start to get closer and closer?
I don’t agree with the boundaries, to begin with, I think it’s a means of separating art into commercial categories. “Street art” is in galleries and homes, “studio artists” are painting walls outside, the lines are fluid. I like to work in all the mediums I can, I don’t think you should stay in one lane.
Are you interested in how technology and digital processes inform contemporary art and specifically painting?
Yeah, I think computers hold some of the keys to making new paintings that aren’t boring.
You’re in between Detroit and Chicago, but how’s Detroit life treating you?
I love Detroit. It’s a unique and very inspirational space, the people are amazing and there are space and room to think. I can afford to have a studio space and live in a three-bedroom house with my girlfriend on a painter’s budget. It’s a dream and I’m enjoying it while it lasts.
At this current moment, what artists are truly inspiring you?
I love Darius Airo, Julie Schenkelberg, Sierra Barela, Ian T Miller and Judith Supine.
Chicago Creatives 