Daniel Edwards
United States
31 Works exhibited on Kooness
Represented by
Works by Daniel Edwards
Daniel Edwards is an Assistant Professor of Sculpture at CSU Stanislaus. His works address celebrity and popular culture in ways that often stir controversy. The release of his art is generally accompanied by a press release. Edwards includes the idea of promotion and associative fame in the marketing of his art.
Past public sculpture commissions by Edwards include Landmark for Peace: The Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy Memorial in Indianapolis.
Edwards got his start as a mask maker in 1980 working for Death Studios in La Porte, Indiana, where he received his first sculpture training from Jeff Keim. He sculpted the comic character Zippy the Pinhead for Death Studios in 1983 under the guidance of its creator Bill Griffith. From 1981 to 1984, other works by Edwards for Death Studios were published in Starlog, Fangoria, Cinemagic, Heavy Metal, and Questar.
In 1985, at the invitation of fashion illustrator Antonio Lopez, Edwards made his first visit to New York City. Edwards frequently hung out at Antonio’s studio from 1985 to 1986, where he was occasionally encouraged to draw alongside Antonio, from the models hired to model for Antonio’s 1001 Arabian Nights. In 1986, Edwards was briefly introduced to Andy Warhol by Antonio at New York’s Palladium, where Lopez and Warhol were judging a beauty contest. It was there that Antonio suggested that Edwards enroll at Warhol’s new school, The New York Academy of Art.
On a scholarship paid for by Andy Warhol’s estate, Edwards attended the New York Academy of Art from 1988 to 1990.
Often vilified for his use of celebrity, called “Shock Artist” by the New York Post and “prankish and frolicsome” by the New York Times, while winning such dubious honors as Sports Illustrated’s “This Week’s Sign of The Apocalypse,” The Art Newspaper’s Bartlebooth award, as well as Sporting News calling for “the artist’s head under a Guillotine,” Edwards’s artwork has also been seen as prophetic and consistent in its ability to humanize social issues that the media and public have trouble addressing.
EXHIBITIONS (*Solo Exhibit)
2022 Bust of Dolores Huerta, Office of the President at CSU Stanislaus, Turlock, CA.
2021 SEEINJUSTICE, Large Scale Sculpture Exhibit at Union Square, New York, NY.
2021 Memorial Bust for George Floyd, Juneteenth unveiling, Brooklyn, New York.
2020 Faculty Exhibit, virtual exhibit presented by the University Art Gallery, CSU Stanislaus, Turlock, CA
2019 Phtgrmmtry, with Jake Weigel and Rodman Edwards, Stan State Art Space, Turlock, CA.
2017 Group Show, Avenue Des Arts, Los Angeles, CA.
2017 Context Miami Art Fair, Avenue Des Arts, Miami, Florida.
2017 Moniker Art Fair London, Avenue Des Arts, London, England.
2017 Faculty Exhibit, University Art Gallery, CSU Stanislaus, Turlock, CA.
2015 * Meshups, Art Space on Main, CSU Stanislaus, Turlock, CA.
2014 Faculty Exhibit, Art Space on Main, CSU Stanislaus, Turlock, CA.
2012 The Wicked Twins: Fame & Notoriety, The Paul Robeson Galleries, Rutgers University, Newark, NJ.
2009 What So Proudly We Hail, Holster Projects, London, England.
2005 Realists of The Lyme Academy, The Arnot Museum of Art, Elmira, NY.
2005 Lyme Academy College of Fine Art Faculty Exhibit, University of Bridgeport, Bridgeport, CT.
2004 Punch & Judy Go Downtown, First Street Gallery, New York, NY.
2004 * My Coulrophobia (My Fear of Clowns), Capla Kesting Fine Art, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY.
2003 Image vs. Color, Capla Kesting Fine Art, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY.
2002 The Panjectivist Salon, Williamsburg Art & Historical Center, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY.
2001 * Cast Blues, Delta Cultural Center, Helena, AR.
2001 * Cast Blues, LymeAcademy College of Fine Art, Old Lyme, CT.
1999 * Daniel Edwards, Recent Works, Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, IN.
1999 Edwards and Pavone, Recent Works, Indiana University at South Bend, South Bend, IN.
1998 * Heroes and Champions, New York Athletic Club, New York, NY.
1998 * Images of Greatness, Art Association of Harrisburg, Harrisburg, PA.
1998 Holocaust Exhibition, Las Vegas Art Museum Invitational, Las Vegas, NV.
1998 * Distinguished Company, National Art Museum of Sport, Indianapolis, IN.
1998 * Images of Greatness, and other works, Las Vegas Art Museum, Las Vegas, NV.
1997 Political Portraits, National Sculpture Society at America’s Tower, New York, NY.
1997 * Images of Greatness, Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, Birmingham, AL.
1997 * Images of Greatness, Elmhurst College, Elmhurst, IL.
1996 Discover Greatness! An Illustrated History of Negro Leagues Baseball, Indiana State Museum.
1996 * Portraits of the Olympic Centennial, Traveling Exhibit:
- 1996 Olympic Village, Georgia Institute of Technology, College of Architecture atrium, Atlanta, GA.
- The Pinnacle Gallery, Savannah College of Art and Design, Savannah, GA.
⦁ Greenville Hyatt Regency, sponsored by the Greenville Chamber of Commerce, Greenville, SC.
⦁ Bank One Center/Tower Gallery, sponsored by the United Way, Indianapolis, IN.
PUBLIC SCULPTURE
2021 SEEINJUSTICE, Large Scale Sculpture Exhibit at Union Square, New York, NY.
2021 Memorial Bust for George Floyd, Juneteenth unveiling, Brooklyn, New York.
2012 Public Art Legacy Project at the Indiana State House, finalist, Indianapolis, IN.
2009 Wildcat, over life-size bronze, Lexington, KY.
2007 Mother and Child, life-size bronze, Carmel, IN.
2004 Carmel Veterans Memorial, finalist, Carmel, IN.
2002 Wm. DeHart Hubbard, Olympian, 6’x 8’ bronze relief, Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority, Cincinnati, OH.
2001 Mr. and Mrs. Cox Memorial, life-size bronze, Hamilton County Parks and Recreation Dept, Carmel, IN.
2000 Senator Wendell Ford, bronze, twice life-size, Wendell Ford Museum, Owensboro, KY.
1998 Senator Wendell Ford, bronze, twice life-size, Louisville Airport Authority, Louisville, KY.
1996 Governor Matthew E. Welsh of Indiana, bronze life-size, Indiana Statehouse, Indianapolis, IN.
1995 Landmark for Peace: The MLK Jr. and RFK Memorial (Groundbreaking ceremony performed by
President Clinton, Martin Luther King III and Senator Ted Kennedy), sponsored by the Indiana Pacers, Indianapolis, IN.
1995 Workers’ Memorial, Indiana Government Center, sponsored by AFL-CIO, Indianapolis, IN.
⦁ Mother Seton with Child, bronze life-size, St. Vincent Hospital, Indianapolis, IN.
COMMISSIONS
2020 John Lewis “Good Trouble” Award, presented by the NBA to the Atlanta Hawks, Atlanta, GA.
2013 Angela Braly Bronze Relief, Wellpoint Inc, Indianapolis, IN.
2010 Larry Glasscock Bronze Relief, Wellpoint Inc, Indianapolis, IN.
2004 The Blaising family children and pets, bronze life-size, Blaising family, Indianapolis, IN.
2004 Olympians of the New York Athletic Club, bronze, New York Athletic Club, New York, NY.
2000 Young Thoroughbred with Child, bronze life-size, Buckingham Companies, Indianapolis, IN.
1998 Affirmed: The Last Triple Crown Champion, bronze, 125% life-size, Champions Farms, Louisville, KY.
1998 Bronze Water Fountains (two), University of Indianapolis, Indianapolis, IN.
1998 Dean Charles Emerson, bronze life-size bust, I.U. School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN.
1998 Dwane Houser Bronze Relief, Anthem Insurance, Indianapolis, IN.
1995 The United Way Community Service Award, United Way of Central Indiana.
1994 Josef Gingold Memorial Gold Medal, Cathedral Arts, Indianapolis, IN.
1995 Jimmy Doolittle Award, Hudson Institute (Recipient: Barry Goldwater; Guest speakers: Dan Quayle, William F. Buckley, and Sen. Sam Nunn), National Press Club, Washington, DC.
1994 Lloyd Banks Bronze Relief, Associated Group, Indianapolis, IN
1994 Bronze Medallion, IUPUI Library, Indianapolis, IN.
1993 Frank E. McKinney, Jr. and Sr. Busts, Bank One Tower, Indianapolis, IN.
1993 Official Portraits for the Sergeants Majors Academy, El Paso, TX.
COLLECTIONS
Marc Ecko
Golden Palace Casino
New York Athletic Club, New York, NY
National Art Museum of Sport, Indianapolis, IN.
City of Harrisburg, Harrisburg, PA.
Las Vegas Art Museum, Las Vegas, NV.
Indiana Statehouse, Indianapolis, IN.
Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA.
Mr. and Mrs. Steve Hilbert, Carmel, IN.
Mr. and Mrs. Sen. Barry Goldwater, Phoenix, AZ.
Mr. Dick Cheney
Dr. Henry Kissinger
Mr. Donald Rumsfeld
Mr. George Schultz
Robin Greenspun, Las Vegas, NV.
Mr. and Mrs. Brad Chambers, Indianapolis, IN.
“Life-session portraiture remains the most pure form of sculptural expression for me, but I am really enjoying other methods for exploring portraiture,” says Edwards, a child of the civil rights era, who came of age as an artist in the time of political correctness. “While I was creating public sculpture commissions, I felt that it was my calling to act as an artist who truly represents political correctness,” says Edwards. As an avid visitor to the National Portrait Gallery at the Smithsonian, Edwards noticed the collection wanting of racial diversity. With the National Portrait Gallery’s requirement of working from life in mind for potential acquisition of the work, Edwards sculpted over the course of ten years approximately 50 portraits of living pioneers from baseball, the Olympics and the Blues.