Dan Hernandez
Reset
February 20 - April 25, 2020
RESET
Press Release
Contemporary Painting Meets Video Game Graphics
The RESET Series by Dan Hernandez
Dan Hernandez’s RESET series combines traditional influences with modern motifs to create a novel venture into contemporary painting. RESET alternates between the narrative and the abstract, two distinctly different but complementary artistic styles. They are two sides of the same coin, yin, and yang, set and reset. Contact our gallery to learn more about his works and our other artists.
Narrative Works
His four newest narrative works in the RESET series draw from diverse influences, including early Christian painting and illuminations, medieval maps, Islamic art, and Indian miniatures. Dan Hernandez employed two distinct philosophies commonly used in video games. The first is an “open-world” or “sandbox” philosophy where the player (or viewer) has complete freedom to explore within the boundaries of the provided world. While these games often include narratives, it is up to the player to follow or not follow the narrative in the order they feel fits. The second philosophy is a more linear approach where the player (or viewer) has some autonomy in how they move through the world but ultimately must follow a predetermined path.
These recent works by Dan Hernandez draw from role-playing video games (RPGs) like The Legend of Zelda, Final Fantasy, and Pokemon. They are also a nod to arcade button-mashers like Gauntlet and to early maze-based games like Pac-Man, Maze Craze, or Adventure. The Sims is another important influence.
Abstract Works
The three more abstract contemporary paintings in the RESET series are less grounded and “toy box” like in nature. A toy box holds items that are used to create imaginary worlds mixed freely together without regard to narrative structure or context. In these works, Dan Hernandez utilizes fragments of imagery from art history, video games, and cartoons and piles them together in non-narrative compositions. Thus, these works’ order is more intuitive and draws on an internal sense of design. The source materials include objects and characters from cartoons like He-Man, She-Ra, Blackstar, and Conan the Adventurer, as well as from side scrollers, beat-em-up games, competitive fighting games, and RPGs. They also include imagery from similar art historical references seen in his narrative works.
Artist Biography
Dan Hernandez was awarded the Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award in 2011 and 2015. He also received the 1st Prize at the Annual Chautauqua Exhibit of Contemporary Art in 2013 and 2010. His work has been written about and reproduced in publications in France, Germany, England, Israel, Austria, and the US, including in ARTnews, Hyperallergic, Spiegel Online, Gizmodo, and Arte Fuse.
His contemporary paintings were included in “Game Changers” at Boston’s MassArt Art Museum’s inaugural exhibition in February 2020, as well as at Beit Ha’ir Museum in Tel Aviv, Israel “Immersion,” Southern Ohio Museum’s “Fast Forward to the Renaissance,” “Bad For You” by curator Beth Rudin DeWoody in London, Lehman College Art Gallery’s “Under the Influence: the Comics,” Westport Arts Center’s “Toy Stories” by curator Helen Klisser During.
digital video – commission Colección Solo
Biography
Game Changers: Video Games & Contemporary Art
MassArt Art Museum Boston, MA
February 22-December, 2020
This group exhibition explores artists working at the confluence of contemporary art and video games. Whether highlighting under explored narratives, pushing technological boundaries, or imagining alternative worlds through game aesthetics, the artists feature in Game Changers are discovering new possibilities for what game-related art can be and do.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2020 Kim Foster Gallery, RESET, New York, NY
2018 Kim Foster Gallery, Game Over, New York, NY
2016 Diane Kidd Gallery, Tiffin University, Tiffin, OH
College of Southern Nevada Art Gallery, Las Vegas, NV
2015 Kim Foster Gallery, Genesis 2015, New York, NY
Secor Gallery, Toledo, OH
University of Kentucky Art Gallery, Genesis, Lexington, KY
2014 RC Art Gallery, University of Michigan, Genesis, Ann Arbor, Michigan
Kim Foster Gallery, Genesis 2014, New York
2012 Kim Foster Gallery, Genesis, New York, NY
2011 Kresge Gallery, Frammenti, Lyon College, Batesville, AR
2009 Madhouse Gallery, Dan Hernandez: Recent Work, Toledo, OH
2007 Fine Arts Gallery, Dan Hernandez: Recent Paintings, Mott Community College, Flint, MI
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2020 Game Changers, MassArt Art Museum, Boston, MA
2018 Human/Nature, Wayne State Univ., Elaine Jacob Gallery, Detroit, MI
Art Miami CONTEXT, Kim Foster Gallery booth, Miami, FL
2017 Kim Foster Gallery, Winterfell, New York, NY
2016 Everhart Museum, Wolves, Magic Mirrors, and Spinning Wheels: The Anatomy of Fairy Tales (July 15 to December 31, 2016) Scranton, PA
2015 Kim Foster Gallery, Heavy/Lite, New York, NY
2014 Ann Arbor Art Center, Drones, Ann Arbor, MI
Art Miami CONTEXT, Kim Foster Gallery booth, Miami, FL
2013 Southern Ohio Museum, Fast Forward to the Renaissance, Portsmouth, OH
Strohl Art Center, 56th Chautauqua Annual Exhibition of Contemporary Art, Chautauqua, NY (First Prize), juror Dr. Janne Siren, Director Albright-Knox
Art Miami CONTEXT, Kim Foster Gallery booth, Miami, FL
Los Angeles Center for Digital Art, Snap to Grid, Los Angeles, CA
Kim Foster Gallery, Partical Physical, New York, NY
Contemporary Arts Center, 24th Annual Juried Show, Las Vegas, NV
2012 Shizaru Gallery, Bad For You, curator Beth Rudin DeWoody, London
Toledo Museum of Art, Portrait Invitational, Toledo, OH
Lehman College Art Gallery, Under the Influence: The Comics, NY
Riffe Gallery, Lets Get Digital, Columbus, OH
Westport Art Center, Toy Stories, curator Helen Klisser During, Westport, CT
Toledo Museum of Art, Quest for Fire, Toledo, OH
2011 Gallery Project, Post Apocalypse, Ann Arbor, MI
Kim Foster Gallery, Monkey Spoon, curator D Dominick Lombardi, NY
Kim Foster Gallery, Night, New York, NY
407 Washington, Artomatic 419! Toledo, OH
Center of Visual Arts, Faculty Exhibition, University of Toledo, Toledo, OH
2010 Toledo Museum of Art, Hispanic/Latino Culture Exhibition, Toledo, OH
Parkwood Gallery, Boy Girl Boy Girl, Toledo, OH
Strohl Art Center, 53rd Chautauqua Annual Exhibition, Chautauqua, NY (First Prize), juror Kim Foster
Walter E Terhune Gallery, Toledo Emerges, Perrysburg, OH
Secor Building Gallery, The Mix, Toledo, OH
2009 Desotorow Gallery, Show & Tell, Savannah, GA
Gallery Project, Shrines & Alters, Ann Arbor, MI
Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo Area Artists, Toledo, OH
Art-O-Matic 419, Art-O-Matic 419, Toledo, OH
2008 Toledo Museum of Art, TAA’DA, Toledo, OH
2005 Hype Gallery, Hype Gallery, Milan, Italy
Logan Gallery, Faculty Benefit Exhibition, Chautauqua, NY
Sykes Gallery, Flux, Millersville, PA
2004 Logan Gallery, Faculty Benefit Exhibition, Chautauqua, NY
Mott Community College’s Fine Arts Gallery, Part-Time Faculty Exhibition, Flint, MI
2003 Logan Gallery, Faculty Benefit Exhibition, Chautauqua, NY
2002 Buckham Gallery, Balancing Ax, Flint, MI
Michigan Institute for the Arts, Michigan Now, Detroit, MI
Logan Gallery, Artist Response to 911, Chautauqua, NY
G Fine Art, 9 Painters, Washington, DC
Watkins Gallery, MFA Thesis Exhibition, Washington, DC
I Street Studios Gallery, Two, Washington, DC
2001 Watkins Gallery, Graduate Drawing Exhibition, Washington, DC
7th Street Gallery, DCAC, Washington, DC
2000 Watkins Gallery, Graduate Drawing Exhibition, Washington, DC
Art-O-Matic, Art-O-Matic, Washington, DC
Northwest Missouri State University, Candidate for BFA Exhibition, Maryville, MO
AWARDS
2015 Individual Excellency Award, Ohio Arts Council
2013 Bellinger Award, 56th Chautauqua Annual Exhibit of Contemporary Art, Chautauqua, NY
2011 Individual Excellency Award, Ohio Arts Council
2010 Bellinger Award, 53rd Chautauqua Annual Exhibit of Contemporary Art, Chautauqua, NY
2009 Lourdes College Art Department Award, Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, OH
2008 Athena Society Award, Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, OH
2000-2002 Graduate Assistantship, American University, Washington, DC
1998 Bill Fields Scholarship, Northwest Missouri State University, Maryville, MO
Hidegrade Dreps Scholarship, Northwest Missouri State University, Maryville, MO
REVIEWS
ARTILLERY MAGAZINE, Genesis 2015, by Daniel Gauss 12/17/15
ARTE FUSE, Genesis of Brilliance, by Oscar Laluyan, 12/5/15
ARTnews, What if Fra Angelico Painted Space Invaders? by Rebecca Robertson, 4/15/14
SPIEGEL ONLINE, Angeklickt: Super Mario in Mittelalter-Kulissen, by Emily Bartels, 4/23/14
GIZMODO, Space Invaders should have been a Biblical Epic All Along, by Geoff Manaugh, 4/16/14
KOTAKU, Space Invaders and Other Classic Games as Renaissance Paintings, by Yannick LeJacq, 4/17/14
The Creators Project, Iconic Videogames Become Iconic Renaissance Paintings in “Genesis 2014” by Emerson Rosenthal, 4 /17/14
ARTE FUSE, In this sign you will conquer! by Daniel Gauss, 4/2/14
HYPERALLERGIC, Feeling Unhinged in Context, by Jillian Steinhauer, 12/10/13
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
2012-Present Assistant Professor, University of Toledo, Toledo, OH
2010 Art in Public Places Coordinator, Arts Commission of Greater Toledo, Toledo, OH
2008-2010 Adjunct Faculty, University of Toledo, Toledo, OH
2008-2009 Managing Director, Firenation Glass Studio & Gallery, Holland, OH
2002-2007 Adjunct Faculty, Mott Community College, Flint, MI
2003-2005 Visiting Lecturer, American University Art in Italy Program, Corciano, Italy
Lecturer, Chautauqua Institution School of Art, Chautauqua, NY
2002 Graduate Teaching Assistant, American University, Washington, DC, Instructor on record, Stanley Lewis
2001 Graduate Teaching Assistant, American University, Washington, DC, Instructor on record, Deborah Kahn
COLLECTIONS
Coleccion SOLO, Madrid, Spain
Beth Rudin DeWoody, USA
Pierre Donnersberg, Paris, France