Biography
Dan Gunn is an artist, writer, and educator based in Connecticut. He received his MFA in Painting from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2007, where he is currently an Adjunct Assistant Professor teaching remotely. His work engages ideas of material transformation, regional identity, and the aesthetics of craft traditions.
Gunn has been awarded residencies at the Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts (2022), the Wassaic Project (2022), the University of Arkansas (2019), Anderson Ranch Art Center (2018), the Vermont Studio Center (2015), and the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture (2012). He is a past recipient of the Artadia/EXPO Chicago Award (2013) and a Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs Individual Artist Project Grant (2021).
Recent and upcoming solo exhibitions include PENTIMENTI (forthcoming, 2026, Philadelphia, PA), The Ungrateful Son (2024, GEARY Contemporary, Millerton, NY), Sawyer (2023, Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft, Louisville, KY), and of the land behind them (2022, Monique Meloche Gallery, Chicago, IL). Earlier solo shows include Bunts (2019, University Club of Chicago), Ungrateful Son (2019, Good Weather, AR), Impromptu Airs (2014, Monique Meloche Gallery), and Routine Scenic Machine (2011, Monique Meloche Gallery).
Group exhibitions include The Regional (Contemporary Art Center Cincinnati, 2021–22; Kemper Museum of Art, Kansas City, 2022), To Be Bound by Place and Lore (2024, PENTIMENTI, Philadelphia), With a Capital P (Elmhurst Art Museum, 2019), Matter Matters (University of Missouri–Kansas City, 2019), and forthcoming inclusion in The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum (2026, Ridgefield, CT).
His work is held in the collections of the Mayo Clinic (Minneapolis), KMAC Contemporary (Louisville), TD Bank (New York), DePaul University School of Music, Fidelity Investments (Chicago), the Joyce Foundation (Chicago), and the Marciano Art Foundation (Los Angeles), among others.
Gunn’s work has been reviewed in Frieze, Art in America, Artforum.com, Two Coats of Paint, Newcity Magazine, Artslant.com, New American Paintings, TimeOut Chicago, and the Chicago Tribune.
He is represented by PENTIMENTI (Philadelphia, PA) and Monique Meloche Gallery (Chicago, IL)