365 Days with Daniel Horowitz
His journeys remain a constant today even when he isn’t traveling as he ventures into the wide scope of commercial and personal assignments. He has been recognized for his artwork by organizations such as the Society of Illustrators, AIAP American Illustration Annual, and the Creative Quarterly: Journal for Art and Design.
Still, the 365 series is Horowitz’ most elaborate and comprehensive exhibit to date. Rummaging through his blog’s original emergence, one will discover his first painting, a piece entirely absent of color, which contrasts to more recent creations. Present is a bird exposing its skeletal structure. The mentality of uncertainty is apparent, as an unlit light bulb remains hanging in the background. By externalizing the animal’s interior, the image instills an eerie feeling amongst its spectators.
The savage transparency in allowing the interior skeleton to be the focal point of the piece is not an unobtrusive misconception in Horowitz’s work. Skeletal figures of humans and animals are further revealed and thoughtfully placed across multiple perspectives in the series. In fact, one might even say, they are abundant. Horowitz generally depicts a body in motion through the representation of the interior skeleton: lounging, stretching or posing; he is elaborately technical in demonstrating an action from the inside-out.
His final piece is a dramatic transition. The uniquely void, yet screamingly bold first painting differs immensely in technique compared to his last piece illuminated with color. Drawing of the Day 365 focuses on a free-falling African-American woman in a bikini diving into an ocean of purple. Two intricately detailed houses lay silently in the background as the audience is drawn to the woman’s demure shadow.
So where did his inspiration derive from? According to Horowitz, brute creative encouragement was sought in everything for him throughout the past year.
“My inspiration came from absolutely anything,” he says. “I tend to combine disparate subjects together, pulling inspiration from ephemera, which I collect. My mind was functioning as a filter of sorts – filtering contemporary society through my mind’s eyes. The key is that I had to do it quickly, which did not offer too much time for reflection, because it would have stalled the process.”
Horowitz partially drew from observing his environment, and discovered he did not have to stray far from home. Nestled near his studio storefront in Vinegar Hill, Brooklyn is a man with a Japanese antique shop. It was there that he found various elements that could easily be incorporated into his designs, furthering the intertwined storyline and themes.
“He has given me old accounting books, newspapers, and old family albums which I chose to use as a substrate when I feel it is appropriate,” he explains. (Japanese letters are a trend in his recent series, elaborately strewn throughout backgrounds of sumo wrestlers and boxers.)
A demanding, yet stimulating project for Horowitz, the series was anything but stress-free, especially when it came to the finale and the real work began of contemplating the logistics with the gallery. However, its completion proved to be an accomplishment as well as a bitter parting note when all 365 of the drawings were distinguishably hung on the walls, posing an exposed view of the artist’s soul for the world to see.
“Putting together an exhibit of this magnitude at The Invisible Dog Center was a lot of work. Framing and hanging the pieces with such a large variety caused a great deal of anxiety. It was a huge accomplishment,” he said. “When the project ended, it was a mixture of huge relief and a little depression. A series is almost [like] a diary into your head and people can learn a lot about you through your pieces.”
Today, his outlandish, yet intricately perceptional mentality is in search of a new project – and he promises it will be just as big as the former.
“I am working on several things right now. I have been selling a lot of limited edition prints and illustrations,” he says. “My work is very universal. I am not sure what my next project is going to be, but it’s going to be big.”
While his next accomplishment still remains in question, his chief achievement was obtained last year when he won an award for the Drawing and Painting Category co-sponsored between Art Takes Miami (a collaborative project which also bears the name of Artists Wanted, established by two New York artists recognizing emerging talent) and Scope Miami (a premier fair that highlights global emerging contemporary art). This was unusual for his reputation as previously he had been unintentionally deemed a commendable illustrator whose frequent choice of tool was digital, even though his work always starts off from hand-drawn sketches.
“This was a huge accomplishment because it set me apart from my usual acknowledgement as an illustrator,” he says. “It made me feel nice that I wasn’t pigeonholed into that.”
As an illustrator, Horowitz’s ironically unique sense of humor is habitually confessed. An illustration titled Melting created for The New York Times shows a distraught businessman made of ice cream agonizing as he sulks and melts into a puddle of his anatomy. Another drawing titled Pinned was featured in Conservative Magazine for an article about taxonomy of consumerism, which would later become a digital print. The black and white giclée of the later print shows eight pins labeled and numbered with meticulously detailed items secured to each pin, demonstrating the preservation of present-day culture.
Horowitz has also worked alongside other distinguished clienteles such as Time Magazine and The Wall Street Journal as well asBurton Snowboards and Nike for which he created designs, but remains genuine to the roots that forged his path as an artist.
“I drew on my experience as a commercial artist, where I developed the skills which have helped me on my recent project,” he says. “Your client base grows exponentially more with work. I always submitted to various competitions hoping that would give me exposure. Persistence is the name of the game.”
Aside from his refreshingly unique exhibit, prestigious art awards, and witty, yet ironic illustrations, Horowitz’s interests reside in the artistic process; not necessarily in the achievements.
“At the end of the day, I can hardly say that anything is more fulfilling than the process of creating,” he says. “Working on a painting and having that moment where you know you have discovered something is fantastic – it beats all the potential accolades, awards, or whatever.”
But while Horowitz’s pieces are visually captivating, thought-provoking and absurdly provocative and artistically adventurous, his legacy remains profoundly undetermined.
“I am only 33. The age Jesus was crucified, I believe. Maybe they’ll make a religion out of me, I certainly hope not,” he chuckles.
“365” will be on view at the Invisible Dog Art Center through April 22 at 51 Bergen Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201 as well as online at http://daniel-horowitz.com/category/drawing-of-the-day. For more information regarding the exhibit, visit www.theinvisibledog.org or call (646) 270-2550.