NADA New York 2023

Daniel Gordon is known for photography and sculpture that employ appropriation and reproduction in order to question the nature of the image-object relationship.

Melding optical illusion, pastiche, mixed media, and a recalibration of analog processes, Gordon consciously reframes what it means to have a photographic practice. A labyrinth built from formalist notions of color, form, line, and composition, his photographs are comprised of disparate images that have been collapsed and recontextualized. Beginning with found imagery sourced from the internet and his camera roll, Gordon reconstructs the three-dimensional form and scale of objects using cut-and-pasted printouts of the objects themselves. The resulting paper objects are then meticulously fabricated to be arranged into various tableaux, which the artist then photographs from a single, frontal vantage point.

Gordon’s marriage of digital and analog processes results in chromatic, highly layered works that delight in both the obvious and the confounding elements of their creation. Bringing together memento mori, portraiture, and still life, Gordon deftly synthesizes the history of image making.