Dan Gunn Joins Pentimenti Gallery

Pentimenti Gallery is now representing Dan Gunn. This partnership, in collaboration with Chicago-based gallery moniquemeloche, marks a compelling addition to Pentimenti’s evolving curatorial vision. The inclusion of Dan Gunn is a celebration of an artist whose evocative works reinterpret Americana through tactile, sculptural language.

With an upcoming solo exhibition slated for April 2026, Gunn’s presence at Pentimenti plots a path of further enrichment of the gallery’s program and offers collectors, curators, and connoisseurs access to his deeply expressive body of work.

Dan Gunn’s art draws from the visual vernacular of the American Midwest, where traditional materials meet contemporary forms. From hand-crafted wooden draperies to finely constructed paper collages and ceramic sculptures, Gunn explores memory, place, and cultural identity. His pieces are imbued with narrative depth, engaging with the legacies of American craft while questioning the boundaries between high art and folk aesthetics. Each artwork offers a layered meditation on human relationships, heritage, and time, bridging personal introspection and cultural commentary.

Dan Gunn: Artistry, Recognition, and the Path Forward

Born in Prairie Village, Kansas, in 1980, Dan Gunn holds an MFA in Painting from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. His career is marked by notable solo exhibitions at institutions including Geary in New York, KMAC Contemporary Art Museum in Louisville, and moniquemeloche in Chicago. He has also participated in dynamic group exhibitions at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, the Kemper Museum in Kansas City, the Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati, and many more. His work has garnered critical acclaim in Artforum, Frieze, Art in America, and Two Coats of Paint, further solidifying his national reputation.

Dan Gunn’s practice is rooted in a reverence for materials. Known for his signature wooden draperies, Gunn begins with fabric studies—translating their movement and softness into rigid, hand-assembled compositions that mimic cloth while subverting its properties. Each piece is constructed from carefully sourced wood, chosen for its texture, tone, and symbolic weight. His process unites the traditions of woodworking with the aesthetics of painting and installation, resulting in a hybrid form that defies easy categorization.

Gunn’s works are not only technically masterful but conceptually resonant. They challenge you to reconsider the language of abstraction, domesticity, and the American landscape. This sensitivity to material and meaning is precisely what attracted Christine Pfister, Director of Pentimenti Gallery. “Dan Gunn’s artwork has made a lasting impression on me since I was first introduced to it,” she notes. “His unique visual language, symbolic resonance, and deep sensitivity to materiality align seamlessly with Pentimenti’s program. I’m delighted to partner with Dan and bring his powerful artistic vision to the forefront.”