Erik den Breejen
Born 1976, Berkeley, California
Lives and works in Brooklyn, New York
2006 MFA, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
1999 BFA, California College of Arts and Crafts, Oakland, CA
1994-96 University of California at Santa Cruz.
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2016 Song of the Earth, Freight + Volume, New York, NY
2014 There’s a Riot Goin’ On, Freight + Volume, New York, NY
2013 Word, One River gallery, Englewood, NJ (with Jim Torok)
2012 Image, Music, Text, DNA gallery, Untitled art fair, Miami Beach, FL
2011 Smile, Freight + Volume, New York, NY
2008 Throwaway Lines Often Ring True, Freight + Volume, New York, NY
2007 Ruined by Love Songs, Freight + Volume, New York, NY
2006 Hits, Hartell Gallery, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
Public Commissions
2018 PS 24 Q mural, Flushing, Queens, NY.
Commissioned by Public Art for Public Schools
2016 Freddie Mercury mural for Wythe Hotel, Brooklyn, NY
2014 Ahmet Ertegun mural for Atlantic Records headquarters, New York, NY. Project coordinated by Gensler, NY.
2013 David Bowie mural for Rag and Bone, New York, NY
Selected Group Exhibitions
2020 Sound & Color, curated by Brian Alfred, Miles McEnery Gallery, New York
2019 Ho Hum All Ye Faithful, BravinLee Programs, New York
Highway Blues, curated by JJ Manford, Underdonk, Brooklyn, NY
Em Dash, Ampersand, Portland, OR
2018 Meet the Parents, Essex Flowers, New York, NY
The Mushroom Show, curated by Dan Gratz and Letha Wilson
Summer Reading, Woskob Gallery, Penn State
Actually Weird, Underdonk, Brooklyn, NY
2017 Weekend, curated by Ezra Johnson, Mindy Solomon gallery, Miami, FL
SQUARED x2, Geoffrey Young gallery, Great Barrington, MA
Press One for Show, curated by Robert Otto Epstein,
Lorimoto gallery, Ridgewood, NY
The Secret Life of Plants, curated by Jennifer Coates and Nick Lawrence,
Freight + Volume, New York.
2016 The Oasis, Gitler &________, New York, NY
Nurture/nature, curated by Matthew Mahler, 245 Varet, Brooklyn, NY
2015 Your Bad Self, Arts + Leisure, New York, NY.
WHO, Leslie Heller Workspace, New York, NY.
I Am What I Am Not Yet, curated by Diana Buckley,
Madelyn Jordon Fine Art, Scarsdale, NY.
The Vegas Session. Three person show with Christopher Kane Taylor and
Joseph Wardwell. Satellite Contemporary, Las Vegas, NV.
The Ecstacy of Influence, curated by Progress Report,
SPRING/BREAK Art Show, New York, NY.
2014 ConTEXT, curated by Brian Hack,
Kingsborough Community College, Brooklyn, NY.
Drawn to Language, Children’s Museum of Art, New York, NY.
Kiki Bouba, curated by John O’Connor,
Sarah Lawrence College, Bronxville, NY
Genesis Forward Battery, curated by hkjb, Underdonk, Ridgewood, NY
2013 Dialogic, curated by Mary Salvante,
Rowan University Art Gallery, Glassboro, NJ
Endless Summer, curated by Gary Petersen,
Brian Morris Gallery, New York, NY
Disque Optophonique
Southfirst, Brooklyn, NY
Thanks, curated by Adam Parker Smith, Lu Magnus, New York, NY
Chiraroscuro, curated JJ Manford and Steve Rivera,
Novella gallery, New York, NY
Word (two person exhibition with Jim Torok),
One River gallery, Englewood, New Jersey
2012 The Double Dirty Dozen (and Friends), Freight and Volume, New York, NY
Can’t Stop Rock Lobster, curated by Merkx and Gwynne,
Shoot the Lobster, New York, NY
Waivers, curated by EJ Hauser and Rob Nadeau,
EJ Hauser studio, Brooklyn, NY
2011 Temporary Antumbra Zone, Janet Kurnatowsky, Brooklyn, NY
Gold Records, curated by Jon Lutz, Art Blog Art Blog, New York, NY
2010 No Vacancy, The Butcher’s Daughter, Detroit, MI
2009 Awesome-Blage, Artjail, New York, NY
The Space Between, DNA, Provincetown, MA
Heartbreak Hotel, Freight + Volume, New York, NY
No Soul For Sale, X Initiative, New York, NY
Selected Bibliography
2016 Kalm, James. "Erik den Breejen 'Song of the Earth' at Freight+Volume," The James Kalm Report, Nov. 27, 2016.
2015 Caldwell, Ellen C. “Vegas Rising,”
New American Paintings blog, June 8, 2015.
2014 Adelaide, Kari. “Erik den Breejen at Freight + Volume,”
Huffington Post, May 27, 2014
Calandra, Maria. Interview for Whitehot Magazine of Contemporary Art, May 2014.
2013 McClemont, Doug. “Endless Summer,” ARTnews, December, 2013, p.100
Newhall, Edith. “Beats and Beach Boys,” The Philadelphia Inquirer, September 29, 2013.
Kazakina, Katya. “David Bowie Portrait Hits Houston Street, Word by Word.” Bloomberg.com, June 19, 2013.
Anonymous. “Bowie Spotted in Manhattan.”
Davidbowie.com, June 19, 2013.
2012 Lutz, Jon. “Erik den Breejen on Smile (and More).”
Daily Operation, November 29, 2012.
Johnson, Ken. “Erik den Breejen: ‘Smile’.”
The New York Times, January 6, 2012: sec. C: 27.
Finch, Charlie. “New Art Overload.” Artnet Magazine, January 6, 2012.
2011 Borkowski, Mary. “The Color and the Sound: Erik den Breejen's Pop Synesthesia and the Beach Boys Smile.” The New Inquiry, Dec. 16, 2011.
Smith, Nancy. “Erik den Breejen Opens ‘Smile’ at Freight+Volume.”
Art Lovers New York, Dec. 13, 2011.
Calandra, Maria. “Erik den Breejen.” Pencil In the Studio, April 10, 2011.
2008 Killeen, Michael. “Kapoor’s Big Red Battering Ram, Rock Star Splatter:
Chelsea Art.” Bloomberg.com, June 12, 2008.
Residencies
2018 The MacDowell Colony, Peterborough, NH
2015 DNA Artists’ Residency, Provincetown, MA
Grants and Awards
2015 New York Foundation for the Arts Painting Fellowship
2006 Charles Baskerville Painting Award, Cornell University.
2005 Cornell Council for the Arts project grant.
Exhibitions Curated
2015 Let’s Go Away for Awhile (co-curated with Maria Calandra),
1 MileGallery, Kingston, NY.
2010 Painting Comes Alive! Artjail, New York, NY.
Born 1976, Berkeley, California
Lives and works in Brooklyn, New York
2006 MFA, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
1999 BFA, California College of Arts and Crafts, Oakland, CA
1994-96 University of California at Santa Cruz.
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2016 Song of the Earth, Freight + Volume, New York, NY
2014 There’s a Riot Goin’ On, Freight + Volume, New York, NY
2013 Word, One River gallery, Englewood, NJ (with Jim Torok)
2012 Image, Music, Text, DNA gallery, Untitled art fair, Miami Beach, FL
2011 Smile, Freight + Volume, New York, NY
2008 Throwaway Lines Often Ring True, Freight + Volume, New York, NY
2007 Ruined by Love Songs, Freight + Volume, New York, NY
2006 Hits, Hartell Gallery, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
Public Commissions
2018 PS 24 Q mural, Flushing, Queens, NY.
Commissioned by Public Art for Public Schools
2016 Freddie Mercury mural for Wythe Hotel, Brooklyn, NY
2014 Ahmet Ertegun mural for Atlantic Records headquarters, New York, NY. Project coordinated by Gensler, NY.
2013 David Bowie mural for Rag and Bone, New York, NY
Selected Group Exhibitions
2020 Sound & Color, curated by Brian Alfred, Miles McEnery Gallery, New York
2019 Ho Hum All Ye Faithful, BravinLee Programs, New York
Highway Blues, curated by JJ Manford, Underdonk, Brooklyn, NY
Em Dash, Ampersand, Portland, OR
2018 Meet the Parents, Essex Flowers, New York, NY
The Mushroom Show, curated by Dan Gratz and Letha Wilson
Summer Reading, Woskob Gallery, Penn State
Actually Weird, Underdonk, Brooklyn, NY
2017 Weekend, curated by Ezra Johnson, Mindy Solomon gallery, Miami, FL
SQUARED x2, Geoffrey Young gallery, Great Barrington, MA
Press One for Show, curated by Robert Otto Epstein,
Lorimoto gallery, Ridgewood, NY
The Secret Life of Plants, curated by Jennifer Coates and Nick Lawrence,
Freight + Volume, New York.
2016 The Oasis, Gitler &________, New York, NY
Nurture/nature, curated by Matthew Mahler, 245 Varet, Brooklyn, NY
2015 Your Bad Self, Arts + Leisure, New York, NY.
WHO, Leslie Heller Workspace, New York, NY.
I Am What I Am Not Yet, curated by Diana Buckley,
Madelyn Jordon Fine Art, Scarsdale, NY.
The Vegas Session. Three person show with Christopher Kane Taylor and
Joseph Wardwell. Satellite Contemporary, Las Vegas, NV.
The Ecstacy of Influence, curated by Progress Report,
SPRING/BREAK Art Show, New York, NY.
2014 ConTEXT, curated by Brian Hack,
Kingsborough Community College, Brooklyn, NY.
Drawn to Language, Children’s Museum of Art, New York, NY.
Kiki Bouba, curated by John O’Connor,
Sarah Lawrence College, Bronxville, NY
Genesis Forward Battery, curated by hkjb, Underdonk, Ridgewood, NY
2013 Dialogic, curated by Mary Salvante,
Rowan University Art Gallery, Glassboro, NJ
Endless Summer, curated by Gary Petersen,
Brian Morris Gallery, New York, NY
Disque Optophonique
Southfirst, Brooklyn, NY
Thanks, curated by Adam Parker Smith, Lu Magnus, New York, NY
Chiraroscuro, curated JJ Manford and Steve Rivera,
Novella gallery, New York, NY
Word (two person exhibition with Jim Torok),
One River gallery, Englewood, New Jersey
2012 The Double Dirty Dozen (and Friends), Freight and Volume, New York, NY
Can’t Stop Rock Lobster, curated by Merkx and Gwynne,
Shoot the Lobster, New York, NY
Waivers, curated by EJ Hauser and Rob Nadeau,
EJ Hauser studio, Brooklyn, NY
2011 Temporary Antumbra Zone, Janet Kurnatowsky, Brooklyn, NY
Gold Records, curated by Jon Lutz, Art Blog Art Blog, New York, NY
2010 No Vacancy, The Butcher’s Daughter, Detroit, MI
2009 Awesome-Blage, Artjail, New York, NY
The Space Between, DNA, Provincetown, MA
Heartbreak Hotel, Freight + Volume, New York, NY
No Soul For Sale, X Initiative, New York, NY
Selected Bibliography
2016 Kalm, James. "Erik den Breejen 'Song of the Earth' at Freight+Volume," The James Kalm Report, Nov. 27, 2016.
2015 Caldwell, Ellen C. “Vegas Rising,”
New American Paintings blog, June 8, 2015.
2014 Adelaide, Kari. “Erik den Breejen at Freight + Volume,”
Huffington Post, May 27, 2014
Calandra, Maria. Interview for Whitehot Magazine of Contemporary Art, May 2014.
2013 McClemont, Doug. “Endless Summer,” ARTnews, December, 2013, p.100
Newhall, Edith. “Beats and Beach Boys,” The Philadelphia Inquirer, September 29, 2013.
Kazakina, Katya. “David Bowie Portrait Hits Houston Street, Word by Word.” Bloomberg.com, June 19, 2013.
Anonymous. “Bowie Spotted in Manhattan.”
Davidbowie.com, June 19, 2013.
2012 Lutz, Jon. “Erik den Breejen on Smile (and More).”
Daily Operation, November 29, 2012.
Johnson, Ken. “Erik den Breejen: ‘Smile’.”
The New York Times, January 6, 2012: sec. C: 27.
Finch, Charlie. “New Art Overload.” Artnet Magazine, January 6, 2012.
2011 Borkowski, Mary. “The Color and the Sound: Erik den Breejen's Pop Synesthesia and the Beach Boys Smile.” The New Inquiry, Dec. 16, 2011.
Smith, Nancy. “Erik den Breejen Opens ‘Smile’ at Freight+Volume.”
Art Lovers New York, Dec. 13, 2011.
Calandra, Maria. “Erik den Breejen.” Pencil In the Studio, April 10, 2011.
2008 Killeen, Michael. “Kapoor’s Big Red Battering Ram, Rock Star Splatter:
Chelsea Art.” Bloomberg.com, June 12, 2008.
Residencies
2018 The MacDowell Colony, Peterborough, NH
2015 DNA Artists’ Residency, Provincetown, MA
Grants and Awards
2015 New York Foundation for the Arts Painting Fellowship
2006 Charles Baskerville Painting Award, Cornell University.
2005 Cornell Council for the Arts project grant.
Exhibitions Curated
2015 Let’s Go Away for Awhile (co-curated with Maria Calandra),
1 MileGallery, Kingston, NY.
2010 Painting Comes Alive! Artjail, New York, NY.
