Curated by Eden Deering and Timmy Simonds
Born in Holland in 1938 to a conservative Calvinist family, Anton van Dalen witnessed firsthand the terrors of both technological and human destruction during World War II. Since immigrating to New York in 1966 and settling in the East Village, van Dalen has served as witness, storyteller, and documentarian of the dramatic cultural shifts in the neighborhood through his masterfully honed and singular iconography. van Dalen has presented solo exhibitions at P·P·O·W, New York, NY; University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA; Sargent’s Daughters, New York, NY; Temple Gallery, Tyler School of Art, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA; and EXIT Art, New York, NY, among others. His work is in the permanent collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY; Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY; Brooklyn Museum, New York, NY; and the Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT. His work has also been included in group exhibitions at notable institutions including the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY; The Drawing Center, New York, NY; Institute of Contemporary Arts, Boston, MA; New Museum, New York, NY; Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL; The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY; FLAG Art Foundation, New York, NY; Artists Space, New York, NY; Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Montreal, Canada; and the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Canada, among others. Anton: Circling Home, a documentary by Morgan Schmidt-Feng, Dennis Mohr, Katy Swailes and Will Nold, premiered in 2020 and was named DOC LA's Best Documentary Portrait. In 2022, Black Dog Press and P·P·O·W published the first comprehensive monograph on the artist's work, Anton van Dalen: Community of Many, featuring critical essays by John Yau and Tiernan Morgan, as well as an interview with artist Krzysztof Wodiczko.
Anton van Dalen
b. 1938, Amstelveen, The Netherlands
Lives and works in New York, NY
Education
1954
Amsterdam Grafische School
Solo Exhibitions
2022
Doves: Where They Live and Work, P·P·O·W, New York, NY
2019
Junk Kulture, P·P·O·W, New York, NY
2016
The Devil’s Veil, Romeo, New York, NY
Inside Out, Home and Place, Sargent’s Daughters, New York, NY
2015
New Work and the Avenue A Cut – Out Theatre, P·P·O·W, New York, NY
ADAA: The Art Show 2015, P·P·O·W, New York, NY
2007
The Drawing Room, Adam Baumgold Gallery, New York, NY
2004
The Living Room, Adam Baumgold Gallery, New York, NY
1996
Bird and Cars, Adam Baumgold Gallery, New York, NY
Temple Gallery, Tyler School of Art, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA
University Gallery, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA
The Living Room, Adam Baumgold Gallery, New York, NY
1989
The Memory Cabinet, Gallery, Cleveland State University, Cleveland, OH
1988
The Memory Cabinet, Exit Art, New York, NY
1986
Edward Thorp Gallery, New York, NY
1984
Edward Thorp Gallery, New York, NY
1980
15 Year Survey Drawings & Constructions, Claude Arsenault Gallery, Toronto, Canada
Cordier & Ekstrom Gallery, New York, NY
1978
Cordier & Ekstrom Gallery, New York, NY
1976
Cordier & Ekstrom Gallery, New York, NY
1975
Cordier & Ekstrom Gallery, New York, NY
1971
Graham Gallery, New York, NY
1969
Graham Gallery, New York, NY
1964
Isaacs Gallery, Toronto, Canada
1962
Dorothy Cameron Gallery, Toronto, Canada
Select Group Exhibitions
2024
The Way I See It: Selections from the KAWS Collection, The Drawing Center, New York, NY (forthcoming)
Airhead, P·P·O·W, New York, NY
A Study in Form (Chapter Two), James Fuentes, New York, NY
2021
Futurephilia: Sex and Science Fiction in Contemporary Art, The Scene, Nashville, TN
2020
100 Drawings from Now, The Drawing Center, New York, NY
Around Day’s End, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
2019
Drawn Together Again, FLAG Art Foundation, New York, NY
2017
Taking It to the Streets, Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space, New York, NY
Wrong Side of History, Bullet Space, New York, NY
2016
Martha Rosler: If you can’t afford to live here, mo-o-ove!!, Mitchell-Innes & Nash, New York, NY
Inaugural Exhibition, Romeo, New York, NY
2013
I, YOU, WE, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
Locations, Adam Baumgold Gallery, New York, NY
2012
Come Closer: Art Around the Bowery, 1969-1989, New Museum, New York, NY
Every Exit is an Entrance: 30 Years of Exit Art, EXIT ART, New York, NY
2011
Living as Form, Creative Time Project, Essex Street Market, New York, NY
Graphic Radicals: 30 Years of World War 3 Illustrated, EXIT ART, New York, NY
Contemporary Galleries: 1980-Now, WW3 Illustrated, Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
Drawn, Adam Baumgold Gallery, New York, NY
2009
Precision, Adam Baumgold Gallery, New York, NY
2008
The Labyrinth Wall: From Mythology to Reality, EXIT ART, New York, NY
Road Works, Adam Baumgold Gallery, New York, NY
On Line, Adam Baumgold Gallery, New York, NY
2007
Drawn to Edge, Adam Baumgold Gallery, New York, NY
2006
Strength in Numbers, Ellen Sragow Gallery, New York, NY
The Studio Visit, EXIT ART, New York, NY
Fine Line, Adam Baumgold Gallery, New York, NY
2005
In a Series, Adam Baumgold Gallery, New York, NY
2004
East Village USA, New Museum, New York, NY
2003
Crimes and Misdemeanors, Politics in U.S. Art of the 1980's, Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati, OH
Petropolis, A Social History of Urban People and Their Animal Companions, The New York Historical Society, New York, NY
Untold Tales, Adam Baumgold Gallery, New York, NY
2001
Young at Art: Youthful Inspirations, The Hope Center (for the Visual & Performing Arts), Jersey City, NJ
1999
Land of 1000 Galleries, Art from the East Village/ Lower East Side/The 1980s, New York, NY
1998
Album, 30 years at the Lower East Side Printshop 1968-1998, curated by Nancy Princenthal, West
Chelsea Arts Building, New York, NY
Collection Service, curated by Don Desmett, SPACE, Cleveland, OH
1997
An Exhibition of Works by Curators of the Visual Arts Gallery, 1979-1997, organized by Jerry Saltz, New York, NY
Artists' Posters Show, EXIT Art, New York, NY
The Art Exchange Show, An (Alternative) Alternative Art Fair, New York, NY
1996
Cultural Economics, Histories from the Alternative Arts Movement, NYC, organized by Julie Ault, The Drawing Center, New York, NY
1995
Murder, curated by John Yau, Thread Waxing Space, New York, NY
Murder, curated by John Yau, Miami-Dade Community College/ Wolfson Campus, Miami, FL
Still Life, Adam Baumgold Fine Art, New York, NY
World War 3 Illustrated, Confrontational Comics, A Retrospective, Parsons School of Design, New York, NY
Made to Order, America's Most Wanted Paintings, an Artists' Project, Alternative Museum, New York, NY
In-Sites, Lower East Side Artists Rethink Neighborhood Spaces, curated by Ellen Wexler
Settlement/Abrons Arts Center, New York, NY
1994
Drawing Pairs, Adam Baumgold Fine Art, New York, NY
Animal Stories, Goddard Riverside Community Center, New York, NY
The Apartment Store, Exit Art, New York, NY
Cracks in the Modern, The Knoffler Gallery, Toronto, Canada
Cracks in the Modern, The Anxiety of industrial Folklore, curated by Ihor Holubizky, Toronto, Canada
PAD/D Archives, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
Selections, Adam Baumgold Fine Art, New York, NY
Wood Works, Adam Baumgold Fine Art, New York, NY
Paper Works: Lower East Side Printshop, Rockland County Community College, New York, NY
Art for Learning: A celebration of the Art Projects Commissioned during N.Y.C. Board of Education's 1990-1994 Capital Plan, The Urban Center, New York, NY
Dump Dump, An Exhibition to Protest the Storage of Nuclear Waste on the Mescalero Apache Reservation, Gallery 409, Roswell, NM
Visionary Proposals for Specific Public Sites for the Lower East Side, Henry Street Settlement, New York, NY
1993
The Return of Cadavre Exquis, a Benefit Exhibition, The Drawing Center, New York, NY
Acquisitions / Donations, Art Gallery of Hamilton, Hamilton, Canada
1992
Art Around the Park, Tompkins Square Park, New York, NY
1991
World Disorder, EXIT ART/The Cultural Space, New York, NY
Images of Labor, the 90s, Local 1199's Bread and Roses Cultural Project, Gallery 1199, New York, NY
Night, Trenkman Gallery, New York, NY
Life After Postmodernism, Anton van Dalen/Luis Jimenez, EXIT ART/The Cultural Space, New York, NY
Artists of Conscience, Alternative Museum, New York, NY
The Hybrid State, EXIT ART, New York, NY
1990
Small Works, Tomoko Liguori Gallery, New York, NY
Gun USA, USA. Webo Gallery, Curated by Robert Costa, New York, NY
Flaneur/Flaneuse: Out for a Stroll, Barbara Fenwick Gallery, New York, NY
The Race: Do We Get There at the Same Time?, School 33 Artcenter, Baltimore, MD
The Decade Show (Group Material), The Studio Museum, Harlem, NY
Happiness is a Warm Gun, curated by Robert Costa (Presented by Zone), Webo Gallery, New York, NY
The Love of Printmaking, Goddard Riverside Community Center, New York, NY
Your House is Mine, Book and Street Project, Bullet Space, New York, NY
Committed to Print, curated by Deborah Wye, Newport Harbor Art Museum, Newport Beach, CA
The Race: Do We Get There at the Same Time? Selected by Geno Rodriguez. School 33 Art Center Baltimore, MD
World War 3 is Here, Klub Komotion, San Francisco, CA
1989
Street Stencils, Henry Street Settlement House, New York, NY
Prisoners of Image, 1800-1988, Ethnic and Gender Stereotypes, Alternative Museum, New York, NY
The Love of Printmaking, Goddard Riverside Community Center, 25th Annual Show, New York, NY
Act of Resistance, Bullet Space, New York, NY
Prisoners of Image, Alternative Museum, New York, NY
Reagan: American Icon, Center Gallery, Bucknell University, Lewisburg, PA
The Future Now, Bass Museum of Art, Miami Beach, FL
If You Lived Here…, Homeless; The Street and Other Venues, organized by Martha Rosler, Dia Foundation, New York, NY
Urban Images, Madison Art Center, Madison, WI
Luis Jimenez and Anton van Dalen – Joint Exhibition, LewAllen/Butler Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM
Dia de Los Muertos, Los Angelitos, Alternative Museum, New York, NY
Duality/Dutch Art in New York, P.S. 122, New York, NY
Living, San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, CA
1988
Fresh from New York, Artspace, Auckland, New Zealand
Committed to Print, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
Unity, A Collaborative Process, Goddard Riverside Community Center, New York, NY
The Social Club, EXIT ART, New York, NY
All the News that’s Fit for Prints, P·P·O·W, New York, NY; Anderson Gallery, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA
New York City Works, One Penn Plaza, New York, NY
1987
Immigrants and Refugees, Heroes or Villains, EXIT ART, New York, NY
Concrete Crisis: Urban Images of the 80’s, EXIT ART, New York, NY
Animalscapes ’87, North Carolina State University, Chapel Hill, NC
“…because there was no room for them at the inn,”, Public Art Fund, Times Square, New York, NY
Contemporary Cutouts, Whitney Museum, New York, NY
Bigger & Deffer, An Art Exhibit Curated by DD Chapin, 541 6th Avenue, New York, NY
1986
NYC: New Work, Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington, DE
Camina a Cuba, El Chopo, Museum of the University of Mexico; traveled to Museo de Bellas Artes, Havana, Cuba
Mass, curated by Group Material, The Kitchen, New York, NY
Dog Days of August, Littlejohn-Smith Gallery, New York, NY
Arts and Leisure, organized by Group Material, The Kitchen, New York, NY
Illuminations, the Art of Our Future, Art et Industrie, New York, NY
11 Bienal de la Habana, de Bellas Artes, Havana, Cuba
Invitational Artists, Treadwell Museum of Fine Arts, Treadwell, NY
Liberty and Justice, co-curated by Group Material and the Alternative Museum, New York, NY
1985
Americana, Group Material Installation at the Whitney Biennial Exhibition, New York, NY
The Big Car Show: Contemporary Visions of the Automobile, Herron Gallery, Indianapolis, IN
Surplus, EXIT ART, New York, NY
Seeing Anew: Noah and the Ark, Wilson Arts Center, Rochester, New York, NY
Microcosms, Galerie Lelong, New York, NY
A.D., Christian Influence in Contemporary Culture, Work Gallery, New York, NY
Art on Paper, Witherspoon Gallery, Greensboro, NC
10 on 8, Ten Windows on Eighth Avenue at 53rd Street, A Fine Space, curated by Rae Langsten and Alfred Martinez, New York, NY
Americana Fair, curated by Marguerite van Cook & James Romberger, Danceteria, New York, NY
1984
Urban landscapes, Semaphore East Gallery, New York, NY
East Village Artists, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA
The Innovative Landscape, Holly Solomon Gallery, New York, NY
Bright Lights/Big City, curated by John Yau, Phyllis Kind Gallery, New York, NY
Reagan U.S. Mail, curated by Lucy Lippard, Printed Matter window, New York, NY
Content Under Pressure, The Art Gallery at Harbourfront, Toronto, Canada
Currents 1983-84, The Institute of Contemporary Arts, Boston, MA
Inaugural Exhibition, Edward Thorpe Gallery, New York, NY
Some Places (East of Eden), curated by Howard Halle, The Kitchen, New York, NY
David Deutsch, David True and Anton van Dalen, Edward Thorpe Gallery, New York, NY
UFO Show, Queens Museum, New York, NY
Street Politics, Street Art in the East Village, The Hanford Art Center, Hanford, CT
Call and Response, Art on Central America, curated by Lucy Lippard, Colby College Museum of Art, Waterville, ME
The Island of Negative Utopia, organized by ABC No Rio, New York, NY
Art and Suburban Experience, New York Institute of Technology, New York, NY
1983
Suburbia, New American Standards, ABC No Rio, New York, NY
Not for Sale, Project Against Gentrification, curated by P.A.D.D., El Bohio Gallery, New York, NY
Looks at Books, ABC No Rio, New York, NY
ABC NO RIO, The Island of Negative Utopia, The Kitchen, New York, NY
1982
Brooklyn Museum (Community Gallery) & Bendix Laundry, New York, NY
Primer, organized by Group Material, Artists Space, New York, NY
Natural History Show, Grace Borgenicht Gallery, New York, NY
Crime Show, ABC No Rio, coordinated by John Spencer, New York, NY
Luchar (to struggle), curated by Group Material, Taller Latino Americano, New York, NY
Sixth Annual Forgione Art Show, Forgione Estate, Old Westbury, New York, NY
1981
MS Show, Group Material, New York, NY
Who’s Laffin’ Now? A Bread and Roses Exhibition, Gallery 1199, New York, NY
Fine Arts Department Exhibition, College of Mount St. Vincent, New York, NY
The Positive Show, (Emblems for a New Age), ABC No Rio, New York, NY
Images of Labor, Gallery 1199, New York, NY
Animals in the Arsenal, Central Park, Arsenal Building, New York, NY
Seventeenth Annual Art Show, Goddard Riverside Community Center, New York, NY
Ninth Street Survival Show, El Bohio, New York, NY
The Coney Island Show, Coney Island Amusement Park, New York, NY
Enthusiasm, organized by Group Material, New York, NY
1980
Animals Living in Cities, ABC No Rio, New York, NY
1979
Gallery Artists, Cordier and Ekstrom Gallery, New York, NY
1978
Art and the Automobile, Flint Institute of Arts, Flint, MI
Cityscape ’78, Oklahoma Arts Center, Oklahoma City, OK
1977
Drawings of the ‘70’s, The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
1972
Exhibition of Contemporary Artists, American Academy of Arts and Letters, New York, NY
1971
Christmas Show, Art Lending Service, Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
1970
Mr. and Mrs. Joseph H. Hirschhorn Select, Hurlbutt Gallery, Greenwich, CT
Reâlism(e)s, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Montreal, Canada
Birds and Beasts, Graham Gallery, New York, NY
1969
Art on Paper, Witherspoon Gallery, Greensboro, NC
Birds and Beasts, Graham Gallery, New York, NY
1968
New York, 1968, organized by Ivan Karp, New York State University, Brockport, NY
1964
Gallery Artists, David Mirvish Gallery, Toronto, Canada
Winnipeg Annual, The Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, Canada
1963
Fifth Biennial Exhibition of Canadian Painting, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa
Public Art Projects
1995
Metropolitan Transit Authority, New York, Nevins Street Subway Station, Brooklyn, New York, NY
1993
The College of Staten Island, The City University of New York, NY
Lehman College, The City University of New York, Bronx, NY
1992
Board of Education: P.S. 20, Percent for Art Project, Webster Avenue at 202nd Street, Bronx, NY
Awards
2014
The Acker Award for Community Art: New York City, New York, NY
Select Permanent Collections
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
Brooklyn Museum, New York, NY
Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT
Select Bibliography
2020
Ahlberg, Joanna. “100 Drawings from Now,” Drawing Papers 143.
2015
Wilson, Martha. “New York Then and Now,” Interview, February 13, 2015.
2013
Rosenberg, Karen. “Questions of Identity, Images of Crisis, Identity Politics in ‘I, You, We’ at the Whitney,” The New York Times, June 20, 2013.
2008
“Anton van Dalen,” Beautiful Decay, November 19, 2008.
2007
“Arts + Selects: Drawings, Anton van Dalen, The Drawing Room,” The New York Sun, October 9, 2007.
2004
Johnson, Ken. “Art in Review: Anton van Dalen – The Living Room,” The New York Times, May 28, 2004
Boxer, Sarah. “An Assistant Tells All, Finally and Gracefully,” The New York Times, February 22, 2004.
Heller, Steven. “Anton van Dalen, Saul Steinberg’s Assistant,” AIGA Blog, February 17, 2004.
1996
Cotter, Holland. “Art in Review: Birds and Cars,” The New York Times, September 20, 1996.
1991
Smith, Roberta. “Art in Review,” The New York Times, November 22, 1991.
1988
Cirincione, Janine. “Crisp Grip, Anton van Dalen,” cover, April 1988.
Cohen, Ronny. Artforum, November 1988.
Schwabsky, Barry. Arts Magazine, 1988.
1986
Brensen, Michael. The New York Times, June 1986.
1985
Gimelson, Deborah. “All About Anton,” Art & Auction, February 1985.
1984
Kaplan, Steve. “Urban Landscapes,” NY Talk, December 1984.
Yau, John. “The View from 166 Avenue A: The Drawings of Anton van Dalen,” Sulfur 10, vol. IV, #1, 1984.
Garber, Stuart. “From Soweto to Loisaida: Sue Coe and Anton van Dalen,” Upfront Magazine, Fall 1984.
Robinson, Walter & Carlo McCormack. “Slouching Toward Avenue D,” Art in America, Summer 1984.
Lippard, Lucy. “From Soweto to Loisaida: Sue Coe and Anton van Dalen,” The Village Voice, vol. XXIX, no. 15, April 10, 1984.
Waite, John. Metropolis, January/February 1984.
1982
Brooks, Valerie F. “Artists Worth Watching: Anton van Dalen’s Cycle of Life,” MD, December 1982.
Raynor, Vivien. “Art an Unnatural ‘Natural History’,” The New York Times, June 25, 1982.
1980
French-Frazier, Nina. Art International, September/October 1980.
Zimmer, William. The Soho News, May 28, 1980.
Russell, John. The New York Times, May 16, 1980.
1979
O’Beil, Hedy. Arts Magazine, January 1979.
1976
Wooster, Ann-Sargent. Artnews, vol. 75, no. 10, December 10, 1976.
Kramer, Hilton. The New York Times, October 29, 1976.
1975
Gruen, John. The Soho Weekly News, January 23, 1975.
Kramer, Hilton. The New York Times, January 11, 1975.
Bell, Jane. Arts Magazine, 1975.
1971
Arts Magazine, November 1971.
Gruen, John. New York Magazine, November 8, 1971.
1970
Perrault, John. The Village Voice, February 5, 1970.
Time Magazine, February 2, 1970.
Battcock, Gregory. Art and Artists, February 1970.
Art News, January 1970.
Gruen, John. New York Magazine, January 26, 1970.
Canaday, John. The New York Times, January 10, 1970.