Artist Statement

My Superhero Mission is to Re-Enchant the World through The Arts.  

It’s all too easy these days to feel disenchanted, as though Magic and Wonder are dead and gone, encased in a tomb made of jaded cynicism and modern materialism. Magic and Wonder are still here of course, waiting to be acknowledged. Re-enchantment is attuning to the humming Soul of the World. It’s revealing the hidden layers of meaning that lie just below the surface of things. It’s playing with possibilities. It’s the feeling of a before unseen world crystalizing right before your eyes.

Re-enchantment awakens us to Wonder.

Wonder is the experience of a before unseen world emerging from a brush tip. Of peering into that unknown world, then having the feeling that something is peering back. It’s the way your jaw drops when you see a hand-painted 100-foot-tall photorealistic face or a trompe l’oeil architectural mural. The wry smile when you stumble upon an Occult-Tech device that you swear could work. Exploring a painting covered with Alien-Deco designs that almost seem to be an ancient language.

Re-Enchantment is the knowing that Magic is alive.

The trajectory of my work is simple, but the terrain is complex:

I make beautiful things to make the world more beautiful.

I make meaningful things to make the world more meaningful.

I make wonderful things to make the world more full of wonder.

I make the world I want to live in – Strange and Beautiful as it ever was.

Bio

Dan Cohen is a classically trained painter, sculptor and muralist. His work has been shown at galleries and events around the world – and on many buildings and walls.

Dan’s influences include world mythologies, occult sciences, and alternative states of consciousness. His signature elements – beautifully rendered forms, archetypal symbolism, Alien Deco designs – bridge the past and future, magic and technology. 

He currently lives in Portland, OR.

 

CV

EXPERIENCE

Dan Cohen Creative Labs, LLC, Owner

2000-Present, Portland, OR

Innovative Fine Art, Large Scale Murals, and Illustration.

Lumenal Code, LLC, Partner

2007-Present, Portland, OR

Interactive Art Installations, Brand Activation, Augmented Reality projects, and Projection Mapping

Art FX Murals, Lead Pictorial Painter, Art Director

1998-2016, Portland, OR

Large scale Advertisement &, Fine Art murals for such companies as Apple, Disney, Sony & Warner Bros

Urban Art Network, Founding Member, Director of the Board

2001-2006, Portland, OR

SELECTED PUBLIC ART PROJECTS

“Oaks Bottom Wildlife Mural”

Portland Memorial Building, Portland, OR 2009

“Masonic Ceiling”

Kenton Masonic Lodge, Portland, OR 2011

“Mattingly Mural Restoration”

Elsinore Theatre, Salem, OR 2013

“Woodstock Mural”

New Seasons Market, Portland, OR 2015

“Sovereign Hotel Mural”

Sovereign Hotel, Portland, OR 2016

“Fair-haired Dumbbell Mural”

Fair-Haired Dumbbell Building, Portland, OR 2017

“Sports Hero’s Journey”

Chehalem Fitness and Aquatic Center, Newberg, OR 2019

EDUCATION

Winona State University, Winona, MN. B.F.A.

Summa Cum Laude, 1997.

Visions in the Mischtechnik, Teacher: Laurence Caruana, 2008

Illustration Master Class, 2011-2018

SELECTED PUBLIC ART COLLECTIONS

Fresh Perspectives Portable Artworks collection, 2018

City of Seattle Office of Arts & Culture

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

Infected by Art, 2018, 2019

Published by ArtOrder LLC

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

2020

SURREAL SALON 12

BATON ROUGE GALLERY – GROUP SHOW

BATON ROUGE, LA

PRETTY AND PECULIAR

FE GALLERY – GROUP SHOW

SACREMENTO, CA

2019

MYTHIC

FE GALLERY – GROUP SHOW

SACREMENTO, CA

TINY VISIONS

THE HIVE GALLERY – GROUP SHOW

LOS ANGELES, CA

CHASING GHOSTS IV

VERUM ULTIMUM GALLERY – GROUP SHOW

PORTLAND, OR

40 IN 4-D

1+1=1 GALLERY – GROUP SHOW

HELENA, MT

2018

SURREAL SALON 10

BATON ROUGE GALLERY – GROUP SHOW

BATON ROUGE, LA

FIERCE AND FRAIL

VERUM ULTIMUM GALLERY – GROUP SHOW

PORTLAND, OR

FUN HOUSE

BARRETT ART CENTER – GROUP SHOW

POUGHKEEPSIE, NY

TINY VISIONS

THE HIVE GALLERY, – GROUP SHOW

LOS ANGELES, CA

CHASING GHOSTS III

VERUM ULTIMUM GALLERY – GROUP SHOW

PORTLAND, OR

2017

SURREAL SALON 9

BATON ROUGE GALLERY – GROUP SHOW

BATON ROUGE, LA

2016

I.M.C. (I MUST CREATE)

LOST ART GALLERY – GROUP SHOW

OAKVILLE, CT

AFRU: SCI-FI SHOW

AFRU GALLERY – GROUP SHOW

PORTLAND, OR

2015

DUNGEON HACKER

DIODE GALLERY – GROUP SHOW

PORTLAND, OR

2014

RED E GALLERY – SOLO SHOW

PORTLAND, OR

2013

LIMINALITY

AFRU GALLERY – SOLO SHOW

PORTLAND, OR

2012

BELOVED

PORTLAND ART MUSEUM

PORTLAND, OR

2010

ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS / ALIEN TECHNOLOGIES

TEMPLE OF VISIONS GALLERY, LOS ANGELES, CA

RESIDENT ARTIST

THE HIVE GALLERY, LOS ANGELES, CA

 Lumenal Code

Lumenal Code is the collaborative project of Dan Cohen and Gabe Shaughnessy. Since 2006 they have been creating multimedia installations and interactive art around the country. Their signature Augmented Reality Murals bring together the beauty and warmth of live analog painting with the spectacle of digital projections.

They encourage the audience to become participants in the creative experience, incorporating cutting edge interactive techniques in their installations.

Their work emphasizes the nexus between Fine Art and Digital Interactivity to create a next-level experience that dazzles and inspires. To see a selection of Their work visit augmentedart.com.