Erik den Breejen
Born 1976, Berkeley, California
Lives and works in Brooklyn, New York
2006 MFA, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
1999 BFA, California College of Arts and Crafts, Oakland, CA
1994-96 University of California at Santa Cruz
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2016
Song of the Earth, Freight + Volume, New York, NY
2014
There’s a Riot Goin’ On, Freight + Volume, New York, NY
2012
Image, Music, Text, DNA gallery, Untitled art fair, Miami Beach, FL
2011
Smile, Freight + Volume, New York, NY
2008
Throwaway Lines Often Ring True, Freight + Volume, New York, NY
2007
Ruined by Love Songs, Freight + Volume, New York, NY
2006
Hits, Hartell Gallery, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
Public Commissions
2020
SoFi Stadium and YouTube Theatre, Inglewood, CA
Digital light box prints for elevators
PS 24 Q mural, Flushing, Queens, NY
Commissioned by Public Art for Public Schools
2016
Freddie Mercury mural for Wythe Hotel, Brooklyn, NY
2014
Ahmet Ertegun mural for Atlantic Records headquarters, New York, NY.
Project commissioned by Gensler and Atlantic
2013
David Bowie mural for Rag and Bone, New York, NY
Selected Group Exhibitions
2024
-Playlist, curated by Heskin Projects, 1GAP gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2023
-Inside the Outside World, curated by Matthew F. Fisher, My Pet Ram, New York
-Working On It, Shirley Fiterman Art Center, BMCC, New York, NY
2022
-Diamond Window (three-person show with Maria Calandra and Christine Heindl) TURN Gallery, New York, NY
-Seeing Red, Looking Blue, Feeling Green, curated by Paul Laster, Marque Projects, Bellport, NY
-You and I Underneath a Sky (two-person show with Maria Calandra), Cynthia Winings Gallery, Blue Hill, ME
-Natural Selection, Room 57 gallery, New York, NY
2021
-Pencil In the Studio, curated by Maria Calandra, De Pree Art Center and Gallery, Hope College, Holland, MI
-La Banda, Tapetto Volante Projects, Brooklyn, NY
-Summer Reading, curated by Lindsey Landfried and Ann Tarantino, Center For Book Arts, New York, NY (catalogue)
2020
-Sound & Color, curated by Brian Alfred, Miles McEnery, New York
-Magic Edge, curated by Michelle Tillou and Andy Cross, Troutbeck, Amenia, NY
2019
-Ornament, BravinLee Programs, New York, NY
-Highway Blues, curated by JJ Manford, Underdonk, Brooklyn, NY
-Em Dash, Ampersand, Portland, OR
2018
-Meet the Parents, Essex Flowers, New York, NY
-The Mushroom Show, curated by Dan Gratz and Letha Wilson, Wilson Studio, NY
-Summer Reading, Woskob Gallery, Penn State, PA
-Actually Weird, curated by JJ Manford, Underdonk, Brooklyn, NY
2017
-Weekend, curated by Ezra Johnson, Mindy Solomon gallery, Miami, FL
-SQUARED x2, Geoffrey Young gallery, Great Barrington, MA
-Press One for Show, curated by Robert Otto Epstein, Lorimoto gallery, Ridgewood, NY
-The Secret Life of Plants, curated by Jennifer Coates and Nick Lawrence, Freight + Volume, New York.
2016
-The Oasis, Gitler &________, New York, NY
-Nurture/nature, curated by Matthew Mahler, 245 Varet, Brooklyn, NY
2015
-Your Bad Self, Arts + Leisure, New York, NY
-WHO, Leslie Heller Workspace, New York, NY
-I Am What I Am Not Yet, curated by Diana Buckley, Madelyn Jordon Fine Art, Scarsdale, NY
-The Vegas Session; Three person show with Christopher Kane Taylor and Joseph Wardwell, Satellite Contemporary, Las Vegas, NV.
-The Ecstacy of Influence, curated by Progress Report, SPRING/BREAK Art Show, New York, NY.
2014
-ConTEXT, curated by Brian Hack, Kingsborough Community College, Brooklyn, NY.
-Drawn to Language, Children’s Museum of Art, New York, NY
-Kiki Bouba, curated by John O’Connor, Sarah Lawrence College, Bronxville, NY
-Genesis Forward Battery, curated by hkjb, Underdonk, Ridgewood, NY
2013
-Dialogic, curated by Mary Salvante, Rowan University Art Gallery, Glassboro, NJ
-Endless Summer, curated by Gary Petersen, Brian Morris Gallery, New York, NY
-Disque Optophonique (sound piece for Christian Sampson installation), Southfirst, Brooklyn, NY
-Thanks, curated by Adam Parker Smith, Lu Magnus, New York, NY
-Chiraroscuro, curated JJ Manford and Steve Rivera, Novella gallery, New York, NY
-Word; two person exhibition with Jim Torok, One River gallery, Englewood, NJ
2012
-The Double Dirty Dozen (and Friends), Freight and Volume, New York, NY
-Can’t Stop Rock Lobster, curated by Merkx and Gwynne, Shoot the Lobster, NY
-Waivers, curated by EJ Hauser and Rob Nadeau, EJ Hauser studio, Brooklyn, NY
2011
-Temporary Antumbra Zone, Janet Kurnatowsky, Brooklyn, NY
-Gold Records, curated by Jon Lutz, Art Blog Art Blog, New York, NY
2010
-No Vacancy, The Butcher’s Daughter, Detroit, MI
2009
-Awesome-Blage, Artjail, New York, NY
-The Space Between, DNA, Provincetown, MA
-Heartbreak Hotel, Freight + Volume, New York, NY
-No Soul For Sale, X Initiative, New York, NY
Selected Bibliography
2020
Matthew F. Fisher, curator, Art Maze, Issue 17, May 2020: 142-143.
2019
Buzz Spector, editor and curator, December, Vol. 30.2, Fall-Winter 2019: 113-120.
https://decembermag.org/product/volume-30-2/
Herman Verbeke, editor, Neil Young: Art of Gold, Whitsand, 2019: 88-89.
2017
Jon Lutz, curator, Maake magazine, Issue 4, 2017: 23.
https://www.maakemagazine.com/issue-4-artists
2016
James Kalm, “Erik den Breejen ‘Song of the Earth’ at FREIGHT+VOLUME,” The James Kalm Report (vlog), Nov 27, 2016. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5eJBYx__6E
Brian Alfred, “Erik den Breejen,” Sound & Vision (podcast), June 15, 2016. http://www.soundandvisionpodcast.com/blog/2016/6/15/erik-den-breejen
Ellen C. Caldwell, “Vegas Rising,” New American Paintings (blog), June 8, 2015.
https://www.newamericanpaintings.com/blog/vegas-rising-satellite-contemporary’s-new-space
2014
Kari Adelaide, “Erik den Breejen at Freight + Volume,” Huffington Post (blog), May 27, 2014. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/erik-den-breejen-at-freig_b_5394772
Maria Calandra, “ Whitehot Magazine of Contemporary Art, May 2014.
https://whitehotmagazine.com/articles/erik-den-breejen-freight-volume/2983
2013
Doug McClemont, “Endless Summer,” ARTnews, December, 2013: 100
Edith Newhall, “Beats and Beach Boys,” The Philadelphia Inquirer, September 29, 2013.
Katya Kazakina, “David Bowie Portrait Hits Houston Street, Word by Word,” Bloomberg.com, June 19, 2013. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2013-06-19/david-bowie-portrait-hits-houston-street-word-by-word#xj4y7vzkg
“Bowie Spotted in Manhattan,” davidbowie.com, June 19, 2013.
https://www.davidbowie.com/2013/2013/06/20/bowie-spotted-in-manhattan
Sharon Butler, “Erik den Breejen: Text and Music,” Two Coats of Paint (blog), Dec. 1, 2012. https://twocoatsofpaint.com/2012/12/erik-den-breejen-text-and-music.html
Jon Lutz, “Erik den Breejen on Smile (and More),” Daily Operation (blog), November 29, 2012. https://lutzjon.tumblr.com/post/36820687045/erik-den-breejen-on-smile-moreKen Johnson, “Erik den Breejen: ‘Smile’” The New York Times, January 6, 2012: sec. C: 27.
Charlie Finch, “New Art Overload,” Artnet Magazine (online), January 6, 2012.
http://www.artnet.com/magazineus/features/finch/erik-den-breejen-and-janet-malcolm-1-6-12.asp
2011
Mary Borkowski, “The Color and the Sound: Erik den Breejen’s Pop Synesthesia and the Beach Boys Smile,” The New Inquiry (blog), Dec. 16, 2011.
https://thenewinquiry.com/the-color-and-the-sound/
Nancy Smith, “Erik den Breejen Opens ‘Smile’ at Freight+Volume,” Art Lovers New York (blog), Dec. 13, 2011. http://www.artloversnewyork.com/zine/the-bomb/2011/12/13/erik-den-breejen-opens-smile-at-freightvolume/
Maria Calandra, “Erik den Breejen.” Pencil In the Studio (blog), April 10, 2011.
http://www.pencilinthestudio.com/2011/04/erik-den-breejen.html
Michael Killeen, “Kapoor’s Big Red Battering Ram, Rock Star Splatter: Chelsea Art,” Bloomberg.com, June 12, 2008.
Residencies
2022
Reach Projects, Blue Hill, ME
2018
MacDowell, Peterborough, NH
2015
DNA Artists’ Residency, Provincetown, MA
Grants and Awards
2015
New York Foundation for the Arts Painting Fellowship
2006
Charles Baskerville Painting Award, Cornell University.
2005
Cornell Council for the Arts project grant.
Exhibitions Curated
2015
Let’s Go Away for Awhile (co-curated with Maria Calandra), 1 MileGallery, Kingston, NY.
http://onemilegallery.com/lets-go-away-for-awhile/
2010
Painting Comes Alive! Artjail, New York, NY.