e-mail supremehanson@gmail.com
Webpage http://erik-hanson.blogspot.com/
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2019 MARLBOROUGH CONTEMPORARY, New York
2009 HORTON / SUNDAY L.E.S., New York
2008 PRINTED MATTER, New York
ELEVEN RIVINGTON, New York
2003 DEREK ELLER GALLERY, New York
2001 ALLSTON SKIRT, Boston, Ma.
DEREK ELLER GALLERY, New York
1999 DEREK ELLER GALLERY, New York
1997 ESSO GALLERY, New York
1989 ROCK-IT, Minneapolis
1988 ROCK IT, Minneapolis
CURATORIAL PROJECTS
2016 NEW ART PROJECTS, London, UK
Erik Hanson, 2 Years of Looking
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2020
LESLIE-LOHMAN MUSUEUM OF ART NYC
Omniscient; Queer Documentation in an Image Culture, Curated by Avram Finkelstein
2019
POSTMASTERS, New York
Pride: Celebrating Stonewall 50
GALERIE KORNFELD, Berlin
Pack den Badeanzug Ein
EDWARD CELLA, L.A.
Vernacular Environments 3
PETER MENDENHALL GALLERY, L.A.
Friends and Family, Curated by Keith Mayerson
FLATLANDS GALLERY, Houston
No Trigger Warnings, Curated by Bill Arning
2016
GALLERY KAYAFAS, Boston
Stark Naked Curated by Franklin Evans
DAVID & SCHWEITZER, New York
Making The Future
2015
BOX 13, Houston
The Church of Man Love
Curated by Mark Ponder
2013
Comme des Marxists
by Rainer Ganahl, performance
Ron Athey's Gifts of The Spirit, performance
2012
LEHMAN COLLEGE, New York
Space Invaders (Collaberation with Robert Melee)
CLIFFORD CHANCE US LLP, New York
The Mutable Portrait Curated by Jacob Robichaux
ANDREW EDLIN GALLERY, New York
B-OUT Curated by Scott Hug
ENVOY ENTERPRISES, New York
FG/FT
2011
KATHLEEN CULLEN FINE ARTS New York, Joni Mitchell Curated by Chris Bogia
2008
WHITE COLUMNS, New York Male Curated by Vince Aletti
2007
NERMAN MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART, Kansas City, MO
Inaugural Exhibition
GALERIE FRANK ELBAZ, Paris Deaf 2 Curated by Peter Coffin
2006
CITE DES ARTS, Paris Ensembles
ABINGTON ARTS CENTER, Jenkintown Pa. Out of the Blue
2005
SMALL A PROJECTS, Portland, Or. All I Want Is Everything
ALLSTON SKIRT, Boston, Ma. Downstrokes and Feedback
VON LINTEL GALLERY, New York The Photograph In Question
Curated by Marco Breuer
JOHNSON COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE, Kansas City, Mo.
Lost In Music
WHITE COLUMNS, New York Trade
2004
P. S. 1, New York The Curious Crystals....
Curated By Steve LaFreniere and Robert Nickas
SCULPTURE CENTER, New York Treble
Curated by Regine Basha
JOHN CONNELLY PRESENTS, New York
AA Bronson*Healer (Included one Collaborative Piece)
GALERIE LISA RUYTER, Vienna Rose Garden Without Thorns
2003
D’AMELIO TERRAS, New York Now Playing
JOHN CONNELLY PRESENTS, New York Today’s Man
RHODES + MANN, London Arrangements
2002
GALERIE GISELE LINDER, Basel In A Silent Way
MARIANNE BOESKY GALLERY, New York Vapor
Curated by Donald Moffett
DEREK ELLER GALLERY, New York Landscape
YERBA BUENA ARTS CENTER, San Francisco, Ca.
Guide To Trust
2001
NEW MUSEUM of CONTEMPORARY ART, New York
Recent Additions to the Altoids Curiously Strong Collection
JAMES GRAHAM & SONS, New York Alterations
WHITE COLUMNS, New York Tipping Point
DEE GLASOE GALLERY, New York Boxy
Curated By Carl Ostendarp
COLLEGE OF SANTA FE FINE ARTS GALLERY, New Mexico
First There Was A Drawing
Curated By Michael St. John
CONTEMPORARY ART CENTER, New Orleans, LA.
Chelsea Rising
2000
RHODES + MANN, London Nightclub Robberies
GALERIJ S65, Aalst, Belgium Drawing is Another Language
1999
GRAND ARTS, Kansas City, Mo. New York Neither/Nor
Curated By Bill Arning
THREAD WAXING SPACE, New York Mr. Fascination
Curated By Lia Gangitano
RUPERT GOLDSWORTHY GALLERY, New York Bowie
KAGEN MARTOS GALLERY, New York Something To Bump Into
1998
VILLA MINIMO, Hanover, Germany
Der Zweiful in Der Darstellung (Doubt in Depiction)
Curated By Marco Breuer
THE LIGHT FACTORY, Charlotte, NC
Not Pictured, The Presence of Absence
CENTRE FOR CONTEMPORARY PHOTOGRAPHY, Melbourne Dumb
AUDIELLO FINE ART, New York Moon To Moon
ANNA KUSTERA GALLERY, New York Drawing To An End
WEATHERSPOON ART GALLERY, Greensboro, NC
Works On Paper
1997 ANDREA ROSEN GALLERY, New York The New God
GASWORKS, London, New York Drawers
WHITE COLUMNS, New York Blind Faith
Curated By Paul Ha
MUSEUM BOYMANS-VAN BEUNINGEN, Rotterdam 3
1996 LESLIE TONKONOW/ BOUND AND UNBOUND, New York
Disappearing Act Curated By Robin Kahn and Kirby Gookin
BASILICO FINE ARTS, New York
I Met A Man Who Wasn’t There…
1995 JANICE GUY, New York Portraits
CENTRO CULTURAL ROJAS, Buenos Aires
Faggots: A Communiqué from North America
1994 AMERICAN FINE ARTS, New York Benefit
1988 LESLIE LOHMAN MUSEUM, New York Invitational
PUBLISHED WORK
2008 A YEAR OF PLAYLISTS, New York, Regency arts Press
2005 NORTH DRIVE PRESS
2003 CURRENCY
2002 CHARLEY
BIBLIOGRAPHY
2009 Johnson, Ken “The Lower East Side, Home to the Young and Emerging” The New York Times, Dec.4
2005 Cotter, Hollond “Art Guide, Justin Lowe/North Drive Press at Printed Matter” The New York Times, Aug. 5
Cotter, Hollond “Art Guide, Trade at White Columns
The New York Times, Feb.23
2004 Cox, Christoph Treble Review Artforum, September Smith Roberta “At Shows Painted With Sound, Be Prepared To See With Your Ears” The New York Times, May 21
2002 Cotter, Hollond “Art Guide ” The New York Times, April 12
Mahoney, Robert Vapor Review Time Out New York, Feb.22
2001 Gangitano, Lia “ Dangerous Corners” Trans #8
Goings on Around Town The New Yorker, July 23
Smith, Roberta “Art in Review Erik Hanson at Derek Eller” The New York Times,
May 18
2000 Coomer, Martin Review “Nightclub Robberies at Rhodes and Mann’ Time Out London, September 6
Saltz, Jerry “Science Fair” The Village Voice, February 22
1999 Gangitano, Lia “Mr. Fascination” Trans #6
Johnson, Ken “Art Guide, Erik Hanson at Derek Eller ”
The New York Times, July 23
Mahoney, Robert Review “Erik Hanson at Derek Eller” Time Out New York, July 22-29
Goings on Around Town The New Yorker, July 19
Thorson, Alice “But Seriously… Or Not”,
The Kansas City Star, 7 July
1998 Cotter, Holland “Art In Review, Blind Faith”,
The New York Times 9 January
Cotter, Holland “Art in Review, Moon To Moon” ,
The New York Times, July 3
McAuliffe, Chris “L’Amour Fou”, World Art November
1996 Smith, Roberta “Art in Review, I Met A Man…”,
The New York Times, July 4
Artists Statement
The way my own senses sometimes blend together is an experience I like to replicate in my art. Sounds and smells can make me see colors and shapes and I do the inverse, paint things that have a strong non visual component.
My goal is to make beautiful stand alone objects that reference ethereal non visual phenomena…..I paint flowers because I like the way they smell, I paint men because I like the way they feel, sound, smell and move. I paint fights because I am constantly battling with myself in my mind……
Erik Hanson is an Autodidact working in Painting, Drawing, Sculpture, Photography and Needlepoint.
Since 1978, Hanson has been constantly learning new mediums in an attempt to make ethereal phenomena lay flat and still within the four corners of a picture frame.
In his first exhibition at Rock-it, Minneapolis, in 1978 Hanson exhibited photographs of homes lit dramatically as a response to the physical and mental abuse families can inflict within. After moving to New York in the 1980s Hanson turned his camera lens to dad-bods and bears making idealized portraits. He hung these photographs on mobiles so that the men are forever pursuing each other.
For his first New York solo show at Esso in 1997, Hanson exhibited photographs of music, smells, and other ethereal phenomena. Hanson continues recording his experiences listening to music and smelling smells through other mediums like drawing, sculpture, and needlepoint in addition to photography.
Awarded a residency at Cite des Artes in Paris in 2006, Hanson decided to teach himself how to paint. He already had some experience with the medium from his job at Goldsmith Mannequin Factory, where he painted faces from 2002 to 2006. His experiences listening to music again provided the content for his Paris paintings which were exhibited at Eleven Rivington in 2008.
Hanson focused on durational-based artworks in his 2008 book A Year of Playlists which featured a Monthly drawing based on the music he had listened to in the previous year. In 2016, Hanson created “One Year of Looking,” a group exhibition featuring 68 artists, based on conversations he had with them while looking at art during the previous year.
In 2017, Hanson had a revelatory experience when a friend sent him an image of his childhood cartoon crush, Bluto. It was like Pandora’s box opened and all of the feelings he was not able to name as a child poured out as 230 paintings exhibited at Marlborough Contemporary, NYC, in “Two Years of Bluto” (2019).
After a pause during lockdown, Hanson returned to the studio in May 2020 and intuitively started painting flowers because they made him happy. “One Year of Flowers,” a series of 40 flower paintings, was exhibited in the Richard Rodgers Amphitheatre at Marcus Garvey Park, NYC, in October 2021.
In his continuing effort to capture ethereal phenomena, Hanson is currently making oil paintings as a record of his state of mind during their making.