Daniel Olson is a conceptually-based artist working in an experimental, interdisciplinary manner. His practice consists of exploratory reactions to and manipulations of elements from a variety of sources: personal history, popular culture and daily life; the histories and technologies of art, film, photography and music; the fields of literature, philosophy, mathematics and language(s). These explorations feed an eclectic but interconnected body of work, with projects manifested as installations, multiple and unique objects, artist’s books, photographs, performances, videos, and audio works.
Guided by a desire to reveal marvelous possibilities within ordinary things or situations, he employs various approaches to the presentation, re-presentation and representation of information, sounds and images. By creating simple, poignant works that may be funny, sad, smart and beautiful, Olson offers perceptually and intellectually rewarding situations which offer multiple readings about our complex relationships to the world(s) we live in.
Born in California in 1955, Daniel Olson completed degrees in mathematics and architecture before obtaining a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, 1986) and a Master of Fine Arts (York University, 1995). Olson’s work – which includes sculpture, multiples, installation, photography, performance, audio, video, and artist’s books – has been exhibited in Canada and abroad since 1986. Olson lives and works in Montreal.
