Daniel Arsham is a 39-year-old contemporary artist based in New York. His work is a combination of art, architecture, design and performance. Thanks to his interdisciplinary interests, over the course of his career he has partnered up with artists such as the musician Pharrell Williams and the famous choreographer, Merce Cunningham. Arsham’s work is temporarily displayed in the Ron Mandos Gallery on Prinsengracht and the Moco Museum at Museumplein.
The Ron Mandos gallery is the first location in the Netherlands in which Arsham’s work has been exhibited. Its ‘Static Mythologies’ exhibition represents objects from popular culture made with geological substances: glacial rock, volcanic ashes, rose quartz and obsidian. Objects such as basketballs and a football helmet made of the above substances are meant to illustrate how future generations might see these everyday items, items that we don’t think about twice. The choice of objects was not accidental. We see them on the covers of magazines or in sports games watched by millions; Arsham selected these specific items as they are known to mass audiences across the world.