biography
Dadara began his artistic career in the early nineties designing flyers and record covers, and doing live-paintings for the then burgeoning electronic dance scene. This early work, as well as projects such as the Dadababy speakers and the Greyman Statue of No Liberty, marked the start of an impressive career as a painter, installation- and performance artist, designer, and cartoonist. Since the turn of the century, his focus has shifted towards extravagant interactive performance-installations in public space. This includes starting his own bank and creating a religion based on social media. Many of these creations were built at the legendary Burning Man event in the Nevada desert. His work is a kind of tweaked mirror which reflects our society, blurring the lines between reality and fantasy. Perhaps a black mirror, but one that has a rainbow at the end of the tunnel.
2024
CTRL ALT DELIRIUM, Solo show, KochxBos Gallery, Amsterdam, NL
2023
Draw me a picture - Group show - Go Gallery, Amsterdam, NL
Envisionary Art Gallery - Boom Festival, Portugal
NFT-AMS - Group show - De Bouwput, Amsterdam, NL
20th Anniversary show - Groups show - Base Elements Gallery, Barcelona, Spain
Gallery ² - presented by IRL Art at ETHDenver, Coloroda, US
Transformoney Tree, public installation, California 100, California State Capitol, Sacramento, US
2022
Getting Lost in the Beauty of Chaos - KochXBos Gallery, Amsterdam
Ancient Future Lifeforms - 2B Gallery, Mallorca
Reality is Overrated - Group show - Base Elements Gallery - Barcelona
Cash on the Wall - group show - Stiftung Kunstforum Berliner Volksbank
Envisionary Art Gallery in collab with Rare Effect, Group show, Boom Festival, PT,
Experience NFT, Group show, SOHO House, Barcelona, SP
2021
Men at Work - Business as Unusual - Two man show - OD Gallery - Amsterdam
Avant Groove - Group show - Base Elements Gallery - Barcelona
Naar de Gallemiezen - an Amsterdam Love Story, Group show, Amsterdam Street Art, Artotel, Amsterdam, NL
2020
I am Dream - Solo show - KochxBos Gallery - Amsterdam
Kronos Art Festival - Group show - Barcelona
2019
Big Art, Group show, Hembrugterrein, Zaandam, NL
2018
Life inside a Pixel - Solo exhibition - KochxBos Gallery - Amsterdam
Bigger Bolder Better - Group expo - Go Gallery - Amsterdam
Solipmission VR installation - Hotel Arena
Summer of Like - Public Installation - Park Valkenberg - Breda, Netherlands
Kaapstad Festival - public intervention - Tilburg, Netherlands
Wandelism, Group show, Berlin, Germany
2017
Open your Mind - Solo Exhibition - KochxBos Gallery - Amsterdam
Collaboration with Marcel Wanders for the Moooi carpet collection
Solipmission installation at Burning Man, Nevada, USA
2016
Money does not rule our world - expo, talk, performance - Platoon - Mexico City
Macht - Gallery Vriend van Bavink - group expo - Amsterdam
2015
#2 - Platoon Kunsthalle - Berlin, Germany
2014
TIME = MONEY = ART - solo exhibition - MAC - Birmingham, England
Artist in Residence - BE Festival - Birmingham, England
Like 4 Real - Theatre play in collab with ISH - Oerol - Terschelling, Netherlands
2013
Like 4 Real - Installation and performance - Burning Man - Nevada, USA
TEDx Amsterdam - talk and performance - Stadsschouwburg - Amsterdam, Netherlands
2012
Transformoney 2.0 - Solo exhibition - Famous, Amsterdam
2011
Last Train to the Inevitable Beyond - Solo exhibition - Reflex Gallery - Amsterdam
2009 - Guantanamo Brain, Famous, Amsterdam
Groeps exposities/performances/installaties (selectie):
2014 - Like 4 Real talk/performance, The Next Web, Amsterdam 2014 - Like 4 Real performance, Boom, Idanha-a-Nova, Portugal 2013 - Like 4 Real talk/performance, Concertgebouw, Amsterdam 2013 - Remake Festival, Platoon Kunsthalle, Berlin 2013 - Like 4 Real installation, Burning Man, Nevada, USA 2013 – Glastonbury Festival, performance 2013 – Exchanghibition Bank performance, Betahaus and Platoon Kunsthalle, Berlin 2013 - Nacht van de Filosofie – performance, installatie, lezing, Beurs van Berlage, 2012 - Transformoney Tree, Burning Man, Nevada, VS 2012 -Staat van de Creatieve Stad, Pakhuis de Zwijger, Amsterdam 2012 - Boijmans Museum, Design Column, performance en lezing , Rotterdam 2012 – Boom Festival, Idanha-a-Nova, Portugal 2011 – Envision Festival, Costa Rica 2011 - MuseumN8, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam 2011 – Nuit Blanche, Brakke Grond, Amsterdam 2011 –Infiltration Series, Paradiso, Amsterdam 2011 – Palais Paradiso, Paradiso, Amsterdam 2009 – Dreamyourtopia, Stattbad, Berlin 2009 – Dreamyourtopia, Centraltrak, Dallas 2009 – Dreamyourtopia, Burning Man, Nevada 2009 -Salon de l'amitié, Arti et Amicitia, Amsterdam 2009 -Art car parade, Orange center, Houston, USA 2009 -States of Exception, Centraltrak, Dallas, USA 2009 -This is the end of the world, MOHS exhibit, Copenhagen, Denemarken 2008 -False Space and the Time of the Apartment, Centraltrak, Dallas, USA 2007 -Kunst van Geld, Geldmuseum, Utrecht (catalogus) 2007 –Love Peace Terror, L 43, Amsterdam 2007 - My Bar is Your Bar, interactieve installatie op verscheidene festivals
Lezingen (selectie)
2009 BRAF, San Francisco - Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas – Pecha Kucha, Amsterdam -IMA Design Village, Berlin - Architecture Slam, TU Delft, 2010 Kom je ook?, Mediamatic, Amsterdam - Economy Transformers, Geldmuseum, Utrecht 2011 Design Week, Eindhoven – Peer 2 Peer start-up conference, de Balie, Amsterdam 2012 Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam – Creative Mornings , Utrecht – Pecha Kucha, Amsterdam 2013 Witte de With, Rotterdam, ABN AMRO Dialogues House, Amsterdam - Money Honey, Gessner Allee, Zurich, - Boijmans Museum , Rotterdam – Betahaus, Berlin, TEDx BlackRockCity, Nevada, TEDx Groningen.
Gastlessen aan de HKU, Utrecht (2013) en Willem de Kooning Academie, Rotterdam, (2013 en 2014)
Artist in Residence 2008-2009 Centraltrak, Dallas, USA 2013 - ASN Bank , Den Haag 2013 - BE Festival, Birmingham 2014 - BE Festival, Birmingham
Fondsen: 2013 BRAF art grant, San Francisco 2012 BRAF art Grant , San Francisco 2010 AFK, Amsterdam 2009 Nederlandse Ambassade, Berlijn 2008 Netherlands- America Foundation, New York 2008BRAF Art Grant, San Francisco 2008Fonds BKVB, Amsterdam 2007 Thuiskopiefonds
After finishing high school in 1986, Dadara briefly studied mechanical engineering at the Delft University of Technology, after which he studied at the Free Academy Psychopolis in The Hague, the Academy of Industrial Design in Eindhoven, and the Academy of Visual Design in Genk (Belgium), before graduating from the Willem de Kooning Academy in Rotterdam in 1992.
After completing studies, Dadara started designing flyers, live-paintings and record covers for the then upcoming international electronic house music scene. This included work for the RoXY club in Amsterdam, Outland Records, and the Mystery Land festival. The public recognition gained through this underground exposure led his paintings to be noticed by the Reflex Modern Art Gallery in Amsterdam, where till today he had ten solo-exhibitions, as well as exhibitions in Paris, Berlin, Stuttgart, Miami and New York City.
Commissions include baby-shaped loudspeakers for B&W,[4] an Absolut Vodka ad, a Greenpeace campaign, invited artist for Expo 2000[5] in Hannover, and a 70 meters long mural for Leiden University in the Netherlands.
In the past 10 years, Dadara mainly focused on both large interactive art projects and making paintings. The common thread throughout most of these works is that they provide a commentary on contemporary society. Topics include on one hand governmental control, lack of transparency, privacy issues, and regulations, and on the other hand value creation, money, and dreams.