Dan Life

Dan Life (b. 1992, Chicago) is a multi-media artist known for his jewel-embellished sculptures, paintings, and works on paper. Inspired by his upbringing marked with an obsession for all things pop culture, Life’s work is an homage to the quintessential suburban American childhood. Employing a spectrum of narratives ranging from playful and innocent, to dark and sexual, Life’s practice seeks to explore identity through the channels of media and consumerism. Flanked with recognizable characters, his work is a reconstruction of “pop history”, serving as both a criticism against and celebration for all of the complications embedded within modern Americana.

Crystals act as a physical touchstone throughout the artist's ever evolving body of work. Mirroring Pavé, Life’s borrowing of a technique typically reserved for the making of jewelry sets the tone for a ripple of juxtapositions deeply embedded into his practice. His intricate process of individually setting each stone by hand can take anywhere from several months up to a year, with larger sculptures requiring hundreds of thousands of stones. The decision to exclusively use Swarovski crystal stemmed from the artist's long time fascination with all that is luxurious and beautiful. The material is both attractive in its opulence, and representative of a greater cultural obsession with wealth and goods, a phenomenon Life is equal parts messenger of and participant in. This perpetual contradiction reaches from the work being made into the world that consumes it.

Dan Life is currently represented by Jacob Arthur Gallery, and has exhibited work both nationally and internationally. Selected press coverage includes Hypebeast, Complex, Vice, the New York Post, NiceKicks, and Forbes. Life lives and works in Los Angeles, California.

SELECTED COLLECTIONS

Michael Jordan Family

Justin & Hailey Bieber

Travis Kelce

Bad Bunny

J Balvin

Kylian Mbappe

Odell Beckham Jr.

Mark Parker, Nike's Ex-CEO

Bracken Darrell, Logitech Ex-CEO

Saudi Royal Family

Lamelo Ball

JAY-Z

Shakira

Amber Valletta

Chicago Bulls

ESPN

Lil Baby

Dennis Schroder

Jalen Ramsey

Steph Curry

H.E.R.

Blackpink

Macklemore

ARTIST COLLABORATIONS

2024

ESPN x Dan Life - Top 10 Chain

Corona x Dan Life - Chicago Bulls, Miami Heat, Boston Celtics, New Orleans Pelicans, Sacramento Kings, Philadelphia 76ers, Charlotte Hornets

MVMT Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 x Dan Life

2022

Kenny Scharf x Dan Life - Smiley jewelry sculptures, 4 editions of 100

Chance The Rapper x Dan Life - Nike 1KO

Holt Renfrew | March 2022 - April 2024 - Canada

2021

Super Bowl LIV Half Time Show - Shakira and Bad Bunny

Victoria Beer x Dan Life x Rey Mysterio

ComplexCon | November 2021 - Los Angeles, CA

2020

Louis The Child x Dan Life - Crown jewelry sculpture, 3 editions of 100

Curry Brand x Dan Life

2019

Hebru Brantley x Dan Life - Flyboy and Lil Mama jewelry sculpture, 2 editions of 100

Justin Bieber x UTA Artist Space - Benefit Auction

Browns Fashion | October - December - London, United Kingdom

Complexcon | July 2019 - Chicago, IL

2018

FriendsWithYou x Dan Life - Cloud In Crystal, Sculpture, Edition of 15

FAIR + EXHIBITION HISTORY

2025

San Francisco Art Fair | April 15, 2025 - April 19, 2025 - San Francisco, CA

Made You Look | March 28, 2025 - May 2, 2025 - William Shearburn Gallery, St Louis, MO

Felix Art Fair | Feb 19, 2025 - Feb 23, 2025 - Los Angeles, CA

2024

Bergdorf Goodman | Nov 14, 2024 - Feb 14, 2025 - New York, NY

Atlanta Art Fair NYC | Oct 4 - Oct 8, 2024 - Atlanta, GA

Art on Paper | Sep 5 - Sep 8, 2024 - New York, NY

Intersect Aspen Art and Design | July 30 - August 3, 2024 - Aspen, CO

San Francisco Art Fair | April 25 - April 28, 2024 - San Francisco, CA

Art Wynwood | February, 2024 - Miami, FL

2023

Art Aqua Miami Basel | December 2023 - Miami, FL

2018

Group Show, Chaos Theory | June 28 - Sep 1, 2018 - Sag Harbor, NY

Group Show, Nonfinito Gallery | May - June, 2018 - New York City, NY