Daniel McKewen is a visual artist and educator, of lost cultural and ethnic heritage, who lives in Meanjin (Brisbane) on the unceded lands of the Turrbal and Jagera people. Daniel’s practice investigates the intersections of contemporary art, screen culture, economics, and politics. Working across a range of media, his work explores how these institutions, systems, and structures of power inform our individual and collective imaginations. The resulting artworks reflect on how our we are shaped and challenged by ideological and aesthetic conventions, and how these allow us to make sense of our social experiences.
In 2013 Daniel was awarded his Doctorate of Philosophy from Queensland University of Technology for his thesis The Art of Being a Fan: Complicity and Criticality in Contemporary Art and Fandom. His artwork is held in public and private collections and has been exhibited nationally and internationally, including in the 2023 and 2021 Ramsay Art Prize at the Art Gallery of South Australia; Conflict in my Outlook at University of Queensland Art Museum; Currency at New Media Gallery, Vancouver; Art Mixtape at HOTA Gold Coast; NEW14 at the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, and You Imagine What You Desire at the 19th Biennale of Sydney. Daniel was a founding member of the artist-run-initiative Boxcopy, and from 2016-2023 was a board member of Metro Arts. Currently, Daniel is Senior Lecturer in Media Arts and Coordinator of Contemporary Art at QUT.
Daniel is represented by Milani Gallery, Brisbane.
About
CV
Education
2013 – Doctor of Philosophy, Queensland University of Technology
2006 – Bachelor of Fine Arts (Visual Arts) Honours (First Class), Queensland University of Technology
Solo Exhibitions
2021 – The Slow Cancellation of the Future, Milani Gallery at the Spring Hill Reservoir, Brisbane
2019-20 – Promissory Estoppel, IMA Belltower Façade Projection, Brisbane
2018 – Paper Empire, Bus Projects, Melbourne
2016 – Strange Loops, Firstdraft Gallery, Sydney
2014 – Spectral Value, Milani Gallery, Brisbane
2012 – Faces of Vanity Fair, QUT Public Art Billboard, Brisbane
2012 – Distance, IMA@Ksubi, Brisbane
2012 – The Art of Being a Fan, The Block, QUT, Brisbane
2011 – Portraits, Metro Arts, Brisbane
2010 – Top Ten Box Office Blockbusters of All Time, Metro Arts, Brisbane
2007 – BETA, Boxcopy ARI, Brisbane
Selected Group Exhibitions
2023
Ramsay Art Prize 2023, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide
A Commodity is a Strange Thing, Cellar Door, Sydney
Fisher’s Ghost Art Award, Campbelltown Arts Centre, Campbelltown
2022
15 Artists, Redcliffe Art Gallery, Redcliffe
Fisher’s Ghost Art Award, Campbelltown Arts Centre, Campbelltown
Welcome Home, Museum of Art, Rockhampton
Art Mixtape, HOTA, Gold Coast
2021
Ramsay Art Prize 2021, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide
Conflict In My Outlook_Don’t Be Evil, UQ Art Museum, Brisbane
2020
New For Old, Metro Arts Gallery, Brisbane
Conflict In My Outlook_We Met Online, UQ Art Museum, Brisbane
Currency, New Media Gallery, Vancouver
2019
Poetics of the Line, Kudos Gallery, Sydney
‘BAD’ Festival, Brisbane Quarter Pop-up, Brisbane
2018
Class Act, Outer Space ARI, Brisbane
The Night Before, Pop-up Exhibition, Marrickville, Sydney
2017
Presentism, Boxcopy Contemporary Art Space, Brisbane
Creative Accounting (touring exhibition), UQ Art Museum, Hawkesbury Regional Gallery et al.
2016
Fisher’s Ghost Art Award, Campbelltown Arts Centre, Campbelltown
The R&M McGivern Prize, ArtSpace at REALM, Ringwood
Neo-Normal (John Fries Award), UNSW Galleries, Sydney
Big Cheese (presented as part of Dark Mofo), Contemporary Art Tasmania, Hobart
2015
Resistance, Screengrab International Media Arts Award, Pinnacles Gallery, Townsville
Text, QUT Art Museum, Brisbane
Two Party State, Channels Video art festival, Melbourne
The Churchie national emerging art prize, Griffith University Art Gallery, Brisbane
Hazelhurst Art on Paper Award, Hazelhurst Regional Gallery
2014
The List, Campbelltown Arts Centre, Campbelltown
John Fries Memorial Prize, UNSW Galleries, Sydney
The Substation Contemporary Art Prize, The Substation, Newport
The Churchie national emerging art prize, Griffith University Art Gallery, Brisbane
You Imagine What You Desire, 19th Biennale of Sydney, Sydney
NEW14, Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne
2013
Talk Show (after the break), Kudos gallery, Melbourne
With Open Arms, Blindside ARI, Melbourne
Bazinga!, Starkwhite Gallery, Auckland
Peripheral Visions: Contemporary art from Australia, Garis & Hahn Gallery, New York
The Social, Campbelltown Arts Centre, Campbelltown
2012
Gold Coast Art Prize 2012, Gold Coast Arts Centre, Gold Coast
Greatest Hits Volume Three, IMA, Brisbane (touring)
SafARI Art Festival, The Rocks Popup, Sydney
Selected Group Exhibitions (continued)
2011
Peeping Toms screening, Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane
Grid North, The Block – QUT, Brisbane, (as Boxcopy)
The Knowledge, Post Museum, Singapore, (as Boxcopy)
2010-2007
Semiotics @ Play, Downtown Cool Media Festival, Tokyo
Structural Integrity, 2010 Next Wave Festival, Melbourne, (as Boxcopy)
Some absolute beauties, Seventh Gallery, Melbourne, (as Boxcopy)
Perfection, Metro Arts, Brisbane
The Light in Winter, Federation Square, Melbourne
Great Expectations, Next Wave Festival, Melbourne
The Vernacular Terrain, Songzhuang Art Museum, Beijing
Greatest Hits/Previously Unreleased Tracks, IMA, Brisbane
Fresh Cut, Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane
International Digital Art, Beijing Film Academy, Beijing
Grants And Awards
Recipient – 2018 Arts Project Grant, Australia Council for the Arts
Recipient – 2018 Creative Sparks Grant, Brisbane City Council
Recipient – 2015 Arts Project Grant, Australia Council for the Arts
Recipient – 2013 New Work Grant, Australia Council for the Arts
Recipient – 2012 QANTAS Encouragement of Contemporary Art award
Recipient – QUT Postgraduate Research Award Scholarship
Finalist – 2023 Ramsay Art Prize
Finalist – 2023 Fisher’s Ghost Art Award
Finalist – 2022 15 Artists Art Award
Finalist – 2022 Fisher’s Ghost Art Award
Finalist – 2021 Ramsay Art Prize
Finalist – 2016 Fisher’s Ghost Art Award
Finalist – 2016 John Fries Memorial Prize
Finalist – 2016 The R&M McGivern Prize
Finalist – 2015 Screengrab International Media Arts Award
Finalist – 2015 Sunshine Coast New Media Art Award
Finalist – 2015 Hazelhurst Art on Paper Award
Finalist – 2015 The Churchie National Emerging Art Prize
Finalist – 2014 John Fries Memorial Prize
Finalist – 2014 The Substation Contemporary Art Prize
Finalist – 2014 The Churchie National Emerging Art Prize
Finalist – 2013 SOYA QANTAS Award – Visual Arts
Finalist – 2012 SOYA QANTAS Award – Visual Arts
Finalist – 2012 Gold Coast Art Prize
Selected Bibliography And Interviews
A commodity is a strange thing, Stephanie Berlangieri, Exhibition Text – Cellar Door, 2023 (PDF)
The Slow Cancellation of the Future, Pamela See, Exhibition Review – ArtsHub, 2021 (link)
Class Act, Sophie Rose, Exhibition Review – Un Projects, 2019 (link)
Paper Empire, Sarah Werkmeister, Exhibition Essay – Bus Projects, 2018 (PDF)
Neo-Normal, Oliver Watts – John Fries Award Catalogue, 2016 (link)
The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner, Jason Farago – Art in America magazine online, March 2014 (link)
An Outsider Looking In, Madeleine Stack – BOMB Magazine, August 2014 (link)
Set Piece, Marianne Templeton, Exhibition Essay for NEW 14 – ACCA, 2014 (PDF)
Daniel McKewen, NEW14 Artist Interview – Australian Centre for Contemporary Art (link)
The List: Daniel McKewen – Das Platforms/Campbelltown Arts Centre (link)
Critic’s Choice, Robert Leonard – Art Collector Issue 66 Nov-Dec 2013
In Pursuit of Critical Distance, Chris Handran, Exhibition Essay – IMA Publications (PDF)
Artist Profile – Daniel McKewen – SafARI 2012 (link)
Portraits, Anita Holtsclaw, Exhibition Essay – MetroArts, 2011 (PDF)
Commissions And Collections
Kick Off 2012 commission – Metricon Stadium, Gold Coast
QUT Public Art Billboard – QUT Kelvin Grove, Brisbane
QUT Art Museum
Rockhampton Art Gallery
Artbank Collection
Private Collections