Melanie Daniel
Melanie Daniel's psychedelic, unnatural palette, dense areas of vibrating pattern, and skewed perspectives underscore an uncanny relationship between the subjects and their environment. Drawing heavily from the Canadian landscape and her great appetite for the history and language of painting, the landscapes are interjected with areas of delicate stains and washes contrasted with passages of abstract impasto and intricate patterns to achieve a buzzing visual ecosystem. Daniel's big and strangely beautiful works are cautionary yet hopeful. They show the power of nature, as plants and flowers intermingle with specters and shadows, and threaten to overrun the canvas and envelop the human presence.
After philosophy and literature studies in at UBC and Concordia University, Melanie Daniel completed her MFA at Bezalel Academy, Tel Aviv. Daniel has had numerous exhibitions internationally, including solo exhibitions at Asya Geisberg Gallery, NY; Mindy Solomon Gallery, Miami; Hiro Hiro Artspace, Taipei; the Grand Rapids Art Museum, Michigan; the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Israel; Galleri Christoffer Egelund, Copenhagen; Chelouche Gallery, Tel Aviv; Ashod Museum of Art, Israel; Shulamit Gallery, Los Angeles; and Kelowna Art Gallery, British Colulmbia, among others. She has received press in publications such as Harper's Magazine, Border Crossings Magazine, Young Space New York, Maake Magazine, Artnet, Newsweek, Frieze, CBC/Radio Canada, The Huffington Post, Beautiful Decay, and the Artists Magazine. Daniel is the recipient of a Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant, a New York Foundation for the Arts Grant, the 2009 Rappaport Prize for a Young Israeli Painter, a Creative Capital Grant, and the NARS Foundation Residency in New York City. In 2020 she completed a position as the Padnos Distinguished Artist-in-Residence at Grand Valley State University, MI.
Born 1972 Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.
Solo Exhibitions
2025 South Bend Museum of Art, Indiana
2024 Maybaum Gallery, San Francisco
2024 Galleri Christoffer Egelud, Copenhagen
2023 Shadow Weaving, Mindy Solomon Gallery, Miami
2023 The Way of Flowers and Ghosts, Hiro Hiro Artspace, Formosa Taiwan
2022 A Faint Earthly Breath, Christoffer Egelund Gallery, Copenhagen
2021 No Man's Land, Asya Geisberg Gallery, NY
2020 Goin' Where the Climate Suits My Clothes, Kelowna Art Gallery, BC
2020 That Shape is my Shade, Grand Valley State University, Michigan
2020 After the Flood, Mindy Solomon Gallery, Miami
2019 Only Four Degrees, GRAM Grand Rapids Art Museum, Michigan
2018 Untitled Miami solo booth, Chelouche Gallery, Miami
2018 Late Bloomers, Asya Geisberg Gallery, NY
2016 Cabin Fever, Chelouche Gallery, Tel Aviv
2015 Piecemaker, Shulamit Nazarian Gallery, LA
2014 Lotus Eaters, Asya Geisberg Gallery, NY
2014 Raven and the Leftover Men, Chelouche Gallery, Tel Aviv
2012 Echo Shield, Asya Geisberg Gallery, New York
2012 Busted, Kelowna Art Gallery, British Columbia
2011 Captivity Tales, Asya Geisberg Gallery, New York
2010 Evergreen, Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Tel Aviv
2009 After, Noga Gallery of Contemporary Art, Tel Aviv
2007 New Works, Angelika Knapper Gallery, Stockholm
2007 Second Shift, Alon Segev Gallery, Tel Aviv
2005 Dove Song, Physics Room, Christchurch, New Zealand
2003 A.W.O.L., Artists House, Tel Aviv
2003 Pleasantvale, Grandforks Art Gallery, British Columbia
2003 Pleasantvale, OUC North Campus Gallery, Kelowna, British Columbia
2003 Pleasantvale, Jerusalem Artists' House, Israel
2002 Migration of a Bad Conscience, Kibbutz Gallery, Tel Aviv
2002 Blind Spot, Tel Aviv Artists' Studios, Israel
Group Exhibitions
2024 A Nomadic Exhibition Project, Otto Gallery, Bologna, Italy.
2023 Winter Show, Galerie Christoffer Egelund, Copenhagen
2023 Future Fair, (Solo with Patrick Mikail Gallery and group with Asya Geisberg), NY
2023 LSpace Gallery, NY
2023 We Support, Braverman Gallery, Tel Aviv
2022 "A Confluence of Coastal Creativity," Albertz Benda gallery, Los Angeles
2022-23 Rinse & Repeat, works from the collection of Francie Bishop Good and David Horvitz," Girls' Club, Fort Lauderdale, FL
2022 Evocations curated Lorand Hegyi, Faur Zsofi Gallery, Budapest
2022 (Curating) A Window Scrubbed for the Moon, Asya Geisberg Gallery, NY
2022 Summer22, Galerie Christoffer Egelund, Copenhagen
2022 Hospitality Suite, Mindy Solomon Gallery, Miami
2022 Dreampaper, Slika Gallery, Lyon
2022 Transobjectional, Patrick Mikhail Gallery, Montreal
2022 paper, Beers Gallery, London
2022 Kamloops Art Gallery, British Columbia
2021 Papier Art Fair, Montreal
2021 New Works, Patrick Mikhail Gallery, Montreal
2021 You Might Believe You're There, Girls' Club, Ft Lauderdale
2021 Ocean Gleaning, Baker Museum, Naples, Florida
2021 Future Fair, NY
2021 Fairyland, Mindy Solomon Gallery, Miami
2021 Extra! Extra!, Asya Geisberg Gallery, NY
2020 Group Show, Chelouche Gallery
2020 No Land, Beit Hankin Museum, Israel
2019 Your Very Own Paradise, Oakland University Gallery
2019 Summertime '19 Galleri Chrisoffer Egelund, Copenhagen
2019 Vortex, Chelouche Gallery, Tel Aviv
2019 Offering, Padnos Art Gallery, GVSU, Allendale (curated by Melanie Daniel)
2018 Christoffer Egelund Gallery, Copenhagen
Untitled Miami, represented by Asya Geisberg
Paris Art Fair (October 2018)
2018 "70/70/70 Bronfman Centre, Santa Barbara
Exposition Collective, Galerie des Tuiliers, Lyon
2017 Recent Acquisitions for Permanent Collection - Ashdod Museum of Contemporary Art (January)
2017 Tel Aviv Museum of Art (March)
Arts Elysees, Galerie des Tuiliers, Paris
2016 Untitled, Chelouche Gallery, Tel Aviv.
2016 Exquisite Corpse, Morean Arts Center, St Petersburg, Florida.
2015 Art Brussels Fair, Represented by Chelouche Gallery.
2014 The Moment. The Backdrop. The Persona. Girls' Club, Ft Lauderdale.
2013 TOTEM, Asya Geisberg Gallery, NY
2013 Mythographies, Yaffo Twenty Three, Jerusalem
2012 Untitled Art Fair, Miami Beach
2012 Terra Icognita, NARS Foundation for the International Artist Residency, NY
2011 NADA Art Fair, Miami Beach
2011 GLAAD Auction, The Metropolitan Pavilion, NY
2011 Art Los Angeles Contemporary Fair, Asya Geisberg Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2011 Terror: Artists Respond, Dershowitz Gallery at Industry City, Brooklyn
2011 The Woods are Lovely, Dark and Deep, Asya Geisberg Gallery, New York
2009 Painting Camp 2, Ramla - Ofakim, Stations for Contemporary Art, Ramla,
2009 Fresh Paint, The Old Station, Tel Aviv
2009 Cockeye: Male Nude in Contemporary Israeli Art, Gal-On Art Space, Tel Aviv
2008 Howling Taxidermies, Beit Shturman Museum, Ein Harod
2008 Mermaid, Inga Gallery, Tel Aviv
2008 Layla, Inga Gallery, NY
2008 TwoSidedness, Kulturhuset, Stockholm
2008 Stop Street Violence, Stockholm City Hall
2007 Shades between Black and White, Gilit Fisher Gallery, Tel Aviv
2007 Group Show, Alon Segev Gallery, Tel Aviv
2007 Cry of the Cicada, Hagra Studios, Tel Aviv
2007 Street Space, The Artists Residence, Herzliya
2007 Pornography My Love, The Artists' House, Tel Aviv
2007 Volta Show, Basel Art Fair, Basel, Switzerland
2007 100 Years of Bezalel, Sotheby's House, Tel Aviv
2006 Disruptions, Petach Tikva Museum of Contemporary Art, Israel
2006 Goods to Declare - MFA International Terminal 1, Tel Aviv
2006 Salame 60:06, MFA Graduate Show, Tel Aviv
2006 Uniform, Herzliya Museum of Contemporary Art, Herzliya
2006 Eclipse, Julie M Gallery, Tel Aviv
2005 New Faces, Noga Gallery of Contemporary Art, Tel Aviv
2005 For Haim, Museum of Israeli Art, Ramat Gan
2004 Digitalis - New Forms Festival, Vancouver, Canada
2004 Tagteam, Tank Gallery, New York
2002 4th Happening, Salamanca Group, Old Central Prison Museum, Jerusalem
2002 Artic 4, The Genia Schreiber Art Gallery, Tel Aviv University
2002 Not Home, New Gallery, Jerusalem
2001 Biennial of Contemporary Drawing in Israel, Ticho House, Israel Museum
2001 Artic 3, The Genia Schreiber Art Gallery, Tel Aviv University
Video Screenings
2009 Tattoo, KG45 Tel Aviv
2008 Jerome, Hazira, Jerusalem
2007 Jerome, Tungsten, Tel Aviv
2006 High Noon, Jerusalem Cinematheque
2006 High Noon, Barbur Gallery, Jerusalem
2006 High Noon, Digital Art Center, Holon
2005 High Noon, 22nd Kassel Documentary Film and Video Festival, Germany
2005 High Noon, Video Night without Video Art, Tal Esther Gallery, Tel Aviv
2005 Dove Song, International Film Festival, MONA, Detroit
2004 Dove Song, Rencontres Paris/Berlin International Film Festival, Halle de la Villette, Paris
Awards and Grants
2017 to 2020 Padnos Distinguished Visiting Artist, Grand Rapids, Michigan
2012 NARS - New York Art Residency and Studio Foundation, NY
2012 Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant recipient
2102 New York Foundation for the Arts grant recipient
2010 Creative Capital, NYC
2009 Rappaport Prize for a Young Israeli Painter, Tel Aviv Museum of Art
2006-2007 The Sharett Scholarship, America-Israel Cultural Foundation
2006 The Smith Academic Excellence Scholarship, History of Art
Department, Hebrew University, Jerusalem
2001-2003 The Sharett Scholarship, America-Israel Cultural Foundation
Teaching
2020 Guest Curator and Juror for the Young Contemporaries Exhibition at the Halsey Institute of Art Charleston, SC
2017 to 2020 Endowed Chair - Painting, Drawing, Paper Making, GVSU, Michigan.
2008-2011 Painting, Printing and Drawing, Art Department, Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, Jerusalem.
2008 Series of Lectures, Art History Department, Hebrew University, Jerusalem.
2009 Painting Lectures, Midrasha School of Art at Beit Berl Teachers Training College, Cfar Saba.
2010 Guest Speaker at The Center for Contemporary Art , Tel Aviv.
2000-2003 Private painting lessons.
1999 Digital Graphic Design and Typography, Ministry of Labour, Jerusalem.
1998 Drawing Courses, Studio A, Jerusalem.
Recent Events and Panels
CBC Radio Interview with Sheryl MacKay West to West Coast, January 16, 2021. https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-43-north-by-northwest/clip/15819140-saturday-january-16
CBC Radio Canada (French) Live Interview, January 6, 2021. https://ici.radio-canada.ca/premiere/emissions/boulevard-du-pacifique/segments/entrevue/338232/melanie-daniel-musee-beaux-art-kelowna
YouTube Video, Artist Interview for the Kelowna Art Gallery, November 2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2V7lrdBWlgk&feature=em-share_video_user&fbclid=IwAR3umS99XSGVxHThoYBMa0vdBqGYGFgR9JN5KiQPqYB6Xn8iHhpubtYlEwc
Online Zoom Artist lecture at the Kelowna Art Gallery, December, 2020.
Evening with Melanie Daniel, Padnos Distinguished Artist-in-Residence on Wednesday, March 28, Richard M. DeVos Center, Rapids, Michigan.
Evening with Padnos Distinguished Visiting Artist: GVSU Pew Campus, Grand Rapids, March 2018.
Panel on Painting, February 28, 2018. Art Gallery of the Haas Center for Performing Arts, Grand Valley State University
Education
2004-2006 MFA, Bezalel, Tel Aviv / Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel
1995-1999 BFA, Fine Arts Department, Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, Jerusalem,
1994-1995 Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec
1992-1993 University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia
1991 External Studies in Italy via Langara College, Vancouver, British Columbia
1989-1991 Okanagan University College, Kelowna, British Columbia
Collections
CICA Vancouver Centre of International Art Society
Art Partners
Tel Aviv Museum of Art
Ashdod Museum of Contemporary Art
Harvard Business School
Girls Club, Ft Lauderdale
Poalim Bank (NY)
Poalim Bank (Tel Aviv)
Discount Bank (Tel Aviv)
Doron Sebbag Collection
Angel Art Collection
Jonathan Kolber Family Collection
Grand Valley State University
Brandes Family Collection
Select Private Collections
Selected Reviews and Publications
Harper's Magazine, April 2023 Issue, Vol. 346, No. 2075, April 2023
"Melanie Daniel at Mindy Solomon, 'Shadow Weaving,'" Art Spiel, March 2, 2023
Bailey, Spencer, The Slowdown, "As Art Basel Turns 20, Miami Art Week Enters a New, Slightly Less Hyped-Up Dawn," December 2, 2022
Schneider, Tim, ARTNET, Why the Wave of Climate-Crisis Art Is More Than Just Virtue-Signaling, Even If It's Not Enough (and Other Insights), September 22, 2021
Felsberg, Kaylie, ARTSY" 5 Artists on Our Radar This June", June 1, 2021
Refael, Sagi, ART SPIEL "Melanie Daniel - No Man's Land at Asya Geisberg", June 12, 2021
Nafziger, Christina, CREATE! MAGAZINE" Melanie Daniel: "No Man's Land" At Asya Geisberg Gallery", June 18, 2021
Horne, Laura, Tussle Magazine Projects, Interview: "Melanie Daniel: No Man's Land" June 26, 2021
Laurence, Robin, Borderline Magazine, Feature Melanie Daniel, April 2021.
Miller, Marla R., Revue Magazine, "Changing Environments: Grand Rapids Art Museum focuses on how the world around us is changing", April 24, 2019.
Strandell, Mary Ann, Delicious Line, Melanie Daniel: Late Bloomers, June 19, 2018.Burns, Emily, MAAKE Magazine, Melanie Daniel Late Bloomers, June 18, 2018.
Cascone, Sarah, ARTNET, Editors' Pick: 15 Art-World Attractions to Seek Out in New York This Week, May 14, 2018.
Makowski, Matthew, GVSU News, Interview with Melanie Daniel, March 20, 2018.
Roberts, Alison, Preview of 'Cabin Fever' in TelAvivian, Alison Roberts, April 15, 2016.
Tzur, Ouzi, Melanie Daniel - Cabin Fever, Haaretz, May 20, 2016.
Beilin, Lotte, Tel Aviv Art Spotlight: 'Cabin Fever' at Chelouche Gallery, Culture Trip June 16, 2016.
Abrahams, Megan, Piecemaker - Melanie Daniel. ArtPulse, Issue 24, November 2015.
Weinberg, Michelle. "The Moment. The Backdrop. The Persona", Schrift & Farbe Design Group, catalogue essay. August 2015.
Seed, John. Huffington Post - Melanie Daniel: 'Piecemaker' at Shulamit Gallery, Venice Beach, 15/31/2015.
Rhinohornartists, Must See Shows Edition, June 10, 2015.
Carr, Chris., LA Art Party, June 1, 2015.
Garen, Brenton. Feature in LA's Yo Venice "Piecing Together Radically Different Cultures", May 15, 2015.
Zucker, Adam. rhinohornartists.wordpress.com "Connecting Figures: New Humanism in Recent Figurative Painting", April 24, 2015.
Shoub, Moran. Lady Globes, Melanie Daniel at Shulamit Gallery, April-May 2015.
Maidman, Daniel. Huffington Post, The Unclenched Jaw: Melanie Daniel's "Lotus Eaters' at Asya Geisberg Gallery, September, 15, 2014.
New York Village Voice, Recommends Melanie Daniel's 'Lotus Eaters', September 2014.
Artsy, Featured Show: Melanie Daniel's Lotus Eaters', September 2014.
Artsy, Follow Friday: Emerging Practices Edition, "Five Emerging Galleries to Follow", August 2014.
Maidman, Daniel. Poets and Artists, Celebration. 56th Issue, June 2014.
Zur, Ouzi. Haaretz, January 31, 2104.
Korpel, Hana. Meeting the Raven's Spirit, Jokopost.com Feb 1, 2014.
Perrine. Forrest. Beautiful Decay, "Melanie Daniel's Apocalyptic Landscapes, October 18, 2012.
Priegert, Portia. The Daily Courier, "Busted at KAG", April 17, 2012.
CBC/Radio-Canada, "Busted: an Art Exhibit Examining Kelowna's Drug Scene", April 13, 2012.
Hayes, Kelly. Kelowna Castanet, radio interview, "Busted: A Look at the Kelowna Drug Subculture Through Lens of Artist Melanie Daniel", April 10, 2012.
Meyer, Ruth, The Artists Magazine, "The Hybrid Landscape of the Heart", March issue, pp. 50 2011.
Omer, Mordechai, Evergreen, "Foreword", catalog essay, 2010.
Reddy, Sammer, Newsweek, "New York's New Works", January 10, 2011.
Shapira, Sarit, Evergreen: "North of the South", catalogue essay.
Sagi Refael, Evergreen: "Horror Vacui", catalogue essay.
Matzkel, Yehudit, Disruptions: "Life in a Threatened Space", catalogue essay.
Melzer, Gilead, Hamidrasha: "Feminism and Israeli Art", catalogue essay.
Klein, Steven, Haaretz, "Weaving Memory and Environment, Canadian-Israeli Artist Turns Heads", August 2010.
Tal, Omer, At, "Ten Women who have Made Israel a Better Place", April 2010.
Scholnik Berner, Hila, Haaretz, "Melanie Daniel : Much Memory, No Nostalgia", May 9, 2010.
Armon Azoulai, Eli, Haaretz, "Daniel's Vision", June 18, 2009.
Yahav, Galia, Time Out Tel Aviv," After Effect", July 16, 2009.
Jones, Ronald, Frieze, "Melanie Daniel", November 29, 2007.
Sloor, Susanna, Omkonst, "Det Frammande I Det Bekanta", November 21, 2007.
Sheffi, Smadar, Haaretz, "Is Restraint Fashionable? " , June 1, 2006.
Tzur, Uzi, Haaretz, "Shutting One Eye", November 15, 2006.
Avudi, Lili, Melabbes - Petah Tikva News, "War's Tent", November 27, 2006.
Haoman 17, City Mouse Tel Aviv, "Melanie Daniel Talks about her Latest Show", June 2006.
Goldfine, Gil, The Jerusalem Post, "The Less You Know", June 29, 2006.
Sheffi, Smadar, Haaretz, "Painting is not Dead", August 5, 2005.
Yahav, Yehuda, Yediot Aharonot, "Missing", April 6, 2006.
Griffin, Kevin, Vancouver Sun, "Probing Everyday Facades", October 21, 2004.
Grewal, Preet, Grand Forks Gazette, "Trio Opens Exhibit at Gallery", September 10, 2003.
Ronnen, Meir, Jerusalem Post, "Back to the Past", March 21, 2003.
Glenna, Turnbull, Kelowna Capital News, "Finding Calm in Established Roots", September 10th, 2003.
Souisa, Albert, Col Ha Ir, "Bomb Shelter City", March 7, 2003.
LeSalle, Mike, Capital News, " Former OUC Student Comes Home to 'Pleasantvale' ", September 9, 2003.
