Dan Cohen
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.
I describe my personal style as Magic Futurism, which combines elements of science fiction and technology, with myth, occultism, and fantasy. I seek to understand the kaleidoscopic human condition, what lies beneath the surface of the everyday, keeping an eye towards Idealism and the Sensual. My works are built to be talismanic artifacts which bridge the Mind and the Soul.
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
“Horse-Carriage Museum Mural” w/Art FX Murals
Gower St Horse and Carriage Museum, Los Angeles, CA 1999
“Portland City Scape Mural”
City Center Parking HQ, Portland, OR 2001
“Vintage Cola Mural”
Weiden + Kennedy, Portland, OR 2003
“LA Lakers All Stars” w/Art FX Murals
Figueroa Hotel, Los Angeles, CA 2005
“7 Year Itch, Restoration” w/Art FX Murals
Fox Studio Lot, Burbank, CA 2007
“JVC Globe” w/Art FX Murals
Times Square, Manhattan, NY 2007
“Yosemite Watershed Mural” w/ Lumenal Code
Yosemite National Park, Mariposa County, CA 2008
“Oaks Bottom Wildlife Mural”
Portland Memorial Building, Portland, OR 2009
“Masonic Ceiling”
Kenton Masonic Lodge, Portland, OR 2011
“Weird Times Comix” w/ Lumenal Code
Lightning in a Bottle, Irvine, CA 2012
“Boldstage Mural” w/ Lumenal Code
SXSW, Austin, TX, 2012
“A Hero’s Journey” w/ Lumenal Code
Uline Arena, Washington DC, 2013
“Mattingly Mural Restoration”
Elsinore Theatre, Salem, OR 2013
“Woodstock Mural”
New Seasons Market, Portland, OR 2015
“Itzakaya Mural” w/ Lumenal Code
Jupiter Hotel, Portland, OR 2013
“Mural of the Future” w/ Lumenal Code
Moscone Center, San Francisco, CA 2014
“Rose’s Story” w/ Lumenal Code
Jupiter Hotel, Portland, OR 2014
“Nike AR Murals” w/ Lumenal Code
Red Rock Casino, Las Vegas, NV 2014
“Ogle Mountain”
1001 Main st Building, Oregon City, OR 2014
“Sovereign Hotel Mural”
Sovereign Hotel, Portland, OR 2016
“Boutique Sensorium” w/ Lumenal Code
Milan, Italy 2016
“Puppet Quest” w/ Lumenal Code
Downtown Hyatt, San Francisco, CA 2017
“Fair-haired Dumbbell Mural”
Fair-Haired Dumbbell Building, Portland, OR 2017
“Rampage Restitution” w/ Lumenal Code
Portland Winter Light Festival, Portland, OR 2018
“Sports Hero’s Journey”
Chehalem Fitness and Aquatic Center, Newberg, OR 2019
“Viaduct Waterfalls”
Tri-Met viaduct, Portland, OR 2019
“La Reina Nueva (The New Queen)” w/Old City Artists
LA Plaza Village, Los Angeles, CA 2020
“Solarpunk Mural”
X-Lounge, Portland, OR 2020
“Mini Tahoma”
Waterwall Fountain, Tacoma, WA 2021
“Adriene Cruz Mural Restoration”
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, 2021
Published by ArtOrder LLC
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2022
SURREAL SALON 14
BATON ROUGE GALLERY – GROUP SHOW
BATON ROUGE, LA
PORTRAIT X
MODERN EDEN GALLERY – GROUP SHOW
SAN FRANCISCO, CA
2021
SURREAL SALON 13
BATON ROUGE GALLERY – GROUP SHOW
BATON ROUGE, LA
PORTRAIT IX
MODERN EDEN GALLERY – GROUP SHOW
SAN FRANCISCO, CA
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.
-