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”

Walnut Park Complex, Portland, OR, 2021

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.