About
Daniel Rios Rodriguez makes intimate and exuberant semi-figurative paintings that combine images from nature with fantastical visions. The artist works on a small scale, building coarse layers of impasto upon homemade panels in irregular shapes (uneven rectangles, ovals, starburst forms with jagged edges). Often these assemblages bear impromptu frames, built by the artist with found wood, frayed strips of rope, nails or copper wire, introducing a collaged element. “Daniel Rios Rodriguez’s quirky, unassuming paintings don’t fall into any easily recognisable niche or category”, writes Art in America’s Kyle MacMillan. Though his work is informed by the canon of European Modernism and art historical painting, the artist looks equally towards peripheral figures like the visionary Texan painter Forrest Bess.
Rios Rodriguez’s subject matter is mostly derived from nature. Many paintings provide an obscured and abstracted version of the artist’s personal experiences – vivid vignettes enriched by a cosmic colour palette and bold, decorative flourishes. Other works filter the time-honoured genres of still life, landscape and memento mori through the kaleidoscopic lens of American folk art: paintings of birds, rivers, flora and fauna are embellished with dried ears of wheat, fragments of rock, feathers or seashells. This perverse and unsettling treatment of the traditional subjects of European painting, enshrined with organic detritus, imbues Rios Rodriguez’s paintings with an almost talismanic quality.
A selection of recent solo exhibitions includes: (2020) Semper Virens, Nicelle Beauchene Gallery, New York, NY (2019) Another Fire, Cooper Cole, Toronto, ON; Bruisers, Artpace, San Antonio, TX (2018) Bite the Tongue, Kerlin Gallery, Dublin, Ireland; It was literally the wreck of jewels and the crash of gems..., with Kate Newby, Nicelle Beauchene Gallery, New York, NY (2017) Cooper Cole, Toronto, ON; Controlled Burn, Nicelle Beauchene Gallery, New York, NY (2016) Lulu, Mexico City, Mexico.
A selection of group exhibitions includes: (2020) The Botanical Mind: Art, Mysticism, and the Cosmic Tree, Camden Arts Centre, London, UK (forthcoming) (2019) Beach, River, Forest: Gracie DeVito, Daniel Rios-Rodriguez & Aaron Spangler, Sean Horton (presents), New York, NY; City Prince/sses, Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France (2018) Artist in Residence Exhibition, Chinati Foundation, Marfa, TX; Seeing Believing Having Holding (organized by Dan Byers), i8 Gallery, Reykjavik, Iceland; Right Here, Right Now: San Antonio, Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, Houston, TX (2017)
Curriculum Vitae, 2023
Born in Killeen, TX, 1978
Lives and works in San Antonio, TX
EDUCATION
2007 MFA, Yale School of Art
2005 BFA, University of Illinois at Chicago
SOLO & TWO PERSON EXHIBITIONS
2023 Reincarnation of a Lovebird, Nicelle Beauchene Gallery, New York, NY
2022 Father Time, Cooper Cole, Toronto, CA
2022 Texan: Part 1, Various Small Fires, Dallas, TX
2022 When there is no sun, Western Exhibitions, Chicago, IL
2021 Serpentine Dream, Kerlin Gallery, Dublin, Ireland
2020 Southwestern Gothic, Feuilleton, Los Angeles, CA
2020 Semper Virens, Nicelle Beauchene Gallery, New York, NY
2019 Another Fire, Cooper Cole, Toronto, ON
2019 Bruisers, Artpace, San Antonio, TX
2018 Bite the Tongue, Kerlin Gallery, Dublin, Ireland
2018 It was literally the wreck of jewels and the crash of gems…, with Kate Newby, Nicelle Beauchene Gallery, New York, NY
2017 Cooper Cole, Toronto, ON
2017 Controlled Burn, Nicelle Beauchene Gallery, New York, NY
2016 Lulu, Mexico City, Mexico
2016 Western Exhibitions, Chicago, IL
2015 Artists Looking at Art, McNay Art Museum, San Antonio, TX
2014 Crosseyed and Painless, Sargent’s Daughters, New York, NY
2013 Paint Work, One River Gallery, Englewood, NJ.
2011 White Columns, New York, NY
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2021 Everyday, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX
2021 Particularities, curated by Chris Sharp, X Museum, Beijing, China
2020 The Botanical Mind: Art, Mysticism, and the Cosmic Tree, Camden Arts Centre, London, UK
2020 In Sickness and In Health, curated by Chris Wiley, Nicelle Beauchene Gallery, New York, NY
2020 Noah’s Ark, Nicelle Beauchene Gallery, New York, NY
2019 Beach, River, Forest: Gracie DeVito, Daniel Rios-Rodriguez & Aaron Spangler, Sean Horton (presents), New York, NY
2019 City Prince/sses, Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France
2018 Artist in Residence Exhibition, Chinati Foundation, Marfa, TX
2018 Seeing Believing Having Holding (organized by Dan Byers), i8 Gallery, Reykjavik, Iceland
2018 Right Here, Right Now: San Antonio, Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, Houston, TX
2017 Of A Well Sucked Apricot, Tif Sigfrids, Los Angeles, CA
2017 Milano Chow/Ann Greene Kelly/Daniel Rios Rodriguez, Michael Benevento Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2017 Hannah Fitz, Áine McBride, Daniel Rios Rodriguez, Marcel Vidal, Kerlin Gallery, Dublin, Ireland
2017 Quiet, Barbara Seiler Galerie, Zürich, Switzerland
2017 A Terceira Mão / The Third Hand, Galeria Fortes D’aloia & Gabriel, São Paulo, Brasil
2016 The Faraway Inside, Nicelle Beauchene Gallery, New York, NY
2016 A Change of Heart (curated by Chris Sharp), Hannah Hoffman Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2015 And There Is An End, James Harris Gallery, Seattle, WA
2015 Figuratively, Wilkinson Gallery, London, UK
2015 And There Is An End, Roberts & Tilton Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2015 Cabinet of Curiosities, Mini Art Museum, San Antonio, TX
2015 Artists Looking at Art, McNay Art Museum, San Antonio, TX
2013 Painting 101, Sargent’s Daughters, New York, NY
2013 Why is Everything the Same? Works from the Collection of Anne Collier and Matthew Higgs, Martos Gallery, New York, NY
2012 Pig Party, organized by Gina Beavers, New York City Gallery, New York, NY
2012 Sleep Late, My Lady Friend, Horton Gallery, Berlin, Germany
2011 Sailors and Shamans, Marvelli Gallery, New York, NY
2011 Scrawl, Artspace, New Haven, CT
2007 La Casa Cultural, Yale University, New Haven, CT
2004 Juventus, Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art, Chicago, IL
AWARDS & RESIDENCIES
2018 Chinati Foundation, Marfa, TX (Link)
2013 Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation Award (Link)
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
San Antonio Museum of Art, San Antonio, TX
BIBLIOGRAPHY
2020
“‘Talismans of Optimism’: Meet the Artists of June.” ArtReview. 31 Jul. 2020
Johnson, Paddy. “Lower East Side’s Best Art Exhibitions Bring Us Brave New Subgenres of Abstraction.” Observer. 27 Feb. 2020
Schwendener, Martha. “What to See Right Now in New York Art Galleries.” The New York Times, 12 Feb. 2020
2019
Zech, Brandon. “Glasstire’s Best of 2019.” Glasstire, Dec. 2019
Moya Ford, Lauren. “Between elusive and familiar: Daniel Rios Rodriguez’s ‘Bruisers’.” Sightlines Magazine, 10 June. 2019
Agresta, Michael. “Snakes and Ladders.” Texas Observer, 31 May. 2019
2018
Dowty, Morgan. “Review.” Art in Print, Apr. 2018
2017
Reeve, Charles. “Review.” Frieze, 1 Sept. 2017
Horst, Aaaron. “Review.” Contemporary Art Review LA, 2 Aug. 2017
Tipton, Gemma. “Review: New talent at the Kerlin and 23 artists at Ellis King.” The Irish Times, 1 Aug. 2017
King, Simone. “Critics’ Pick.” Artforum, 21 July. 2017
“The best art exhibitions to catch this weekend.” The Irish Times, 6 July. 2017
Rosenmeyer, Aoife. “Review.” art agenda, 1 June. 2017
Hort, Rema. “Spring Shows to Know.” Whitewall, 16 May. 2017
Smith, Roberta. “Compact Creations, Radiant and Alive.” The New York Times, 12 May. 2017
Filho, Celso. “Exposicao Coletiva.” Divirta-se, 30 Mar. 2017
Sharp, Chris. “Theory of the Minor.” Mousse, Feb/Mar. 2017
Filho, Celso. “Exposicao Coletiva.” Divirta-se, 9 Feb. 2017
“Onze Artistas Discutme a Tridimensionalidade na Pintura em “A Terceira Mao”.” PIPA, 6 Feb. 2017
“Abertura: A Terceira Mao.” Eventbu, 6 Feb. 2017
“Abertura da coletive “A Terceira Mao” na Galeria Fortes, D’Aloias & Gabriel.” Glamurama, 2 Feb. 2017
2016
“Daniel Rios Rodriguez at Lulu.” Contemporary Art Daily, 19 Nov. 2016
MacMillan, Kyle. “Daniel Rios Rodriguez, Western Exhibitions Review.” Art in America, Apr. 2016
Dluzen, Robin. “Daniel Rios Rodriguez.” Visual Art Source, Feb. 2016
2015
Herbert, Martin. “Review: Four Painting Shows.” Frieze, Sept. 2015
2014
Pagel, David. “And There Is An End, But no end to its goofy appeal.” Los Angeles Times, Mar. 2014
Kohler, Willam Eckhardt. “A few current shows Part II.” Painting Lives, Mar. 2014
2013
Corwin, William. “It’s Elementary: Painting 101 at Sargent’s Daughters.” Art Critical, Feb. 2013
Barry, Mark. “A Thing about Painting.” Ionarts Blog, Nov. 2013
2012
James, Jamillah. “Studio Visit: Daniel Rios Rodriguez,” Studio: The Studio Museum in Harlem Magazine, Summer/Fall. 2012