Dan Graham, an enormously influential figure whose work stands at the intersection of sculpture, architecture, and performance, was born in 1942 in Urbana, Illinois. In 1964 he became the manager of the John Daniels Gallery in New York, where he exhibited the work of then emerging artists Sol Lewitt, Donald Judd, Robert Smithson, Dan Flavin, and Carl Andre. His own work included critical writing about art, architecture, and the television culture; performances exploring self awareness, architectural space, and group behavior; as well as conceptual works designed for popular and art magazines. … (read more)

Dan Graham, an enormously influential figure whose work stands at the intersection of sculpture, architecture, and performance, was born in 1942 in Urbana, Illinois. In 1964 he became the manager of the John Daniels Gallery in New York, where he exhibited the work of then emerging artists Sol Lewitt, Donald Judd, Robert Smithson, Dan Flavin, and Carl Andre. His own work included critical writing about art, architecture, and the television culture; performances exploring self awareness, architectural space, and group behavior; as well as conceptual works designed for popular and art magazines.

Graham's investigation into the ideology behind and relationship between mass forms of architecture and media continued through the 70s, when he began working in film and video. Incorporating mirrors, windows, surveillance cameras, and video projectors, Graham's installations addressed the social function of architecture and television in mediating public and private life. His single-channel works include documentation of performances and, later, documentary essays exploring suburbia and punk music, among other things. Graham has published numerous critical and theoretical essays, including Video-Architecture-Television (1979) and Rock My Religion (1993).

Courtesy of Video Data Bank, condensed and adapted

Click here to read a profile of the artist in the New York Times

Click here for a 2003 interview between Dan Graham and Whitney curator Chrissie Iles

Read about Graham's 2004 marionette performance "Don't Trust Anyone Over 30"

Watch a video about Dan Grahams's For Gordon Bunshaft (2007) at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden:

Watch an excerpt from Graham's seminal 1984 video "Rock My Religion":

Watch a discussion between Graham and Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon, the artist's frequent collaborators:

Dan Graham in conversation with Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth - Part One from MOCA on Vimeo.

Click here to watch part two of the conversation Click here to watch Moore and Gordon play at the opening of Graham's 2009 retrospective at L.A.'s MoCA

Watch an expressionistic documentary about Dan Graham by Belgian artist Cel Crabeels:

Click here for part two of the documentary

(read less)