THE ARMORY SHOW 2026: STAN DANN

Seven Sisters presents a historic solo presentation dedicated to Stan Dann (1931–2013). Conceived as an animated mise-en-scène, it brings together Dann’s distinctive, puzzle-like wood reliefs within the singular visual language he developed over more than five decades in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Beginning in the late 1970s, Dann moved beyond the conventions of traditional carving and craft, using a band saw to cut and sculpt individual wood components into complex, often polychromed reliefs with an unexpectedly fluidity. His earlier work in advertising, graphic design, and architectural signage, including commissions for firms such as Gensler and Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, informed the direct color, bold form, and intuitive composition of his later sculpture. Approaching wood with a painter’s sensibility, Dann moved between sculpture, painting, assemblage, and architectural elements, using color, surface, and depth to continually shift the viewer’s perception of space.

In the studio, Dann developed processes of carving, layering, staining, and assembling interlocking elements while allowing grain, edge, wear, and evidence of touch to remain visible. Across recurring subjects from wearables, instruments, studio interiors, landscapes, to street scenes, his works form an interconnected environment shaped by close observation, material experimentation, and the rhythms of daily making.

In early 2027, Dann’s work will be included in Go Your Own Way: Northern California Craft, 1945–80 at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA). Nearly ten of his works are currently on view in Heralding (...works from the Collection of Forrest L. Merrill) at the Fresno Art Museum. His work is held in the collections of the Crocker Art Museum and the Hechinger Collection, and was featured in Crafting Modernism: Midcentury American Art and Design at the Museum of Arts and Design, New York in 2011–2012. Prior to that, Dann last exhibited in New York with Allen Stone Gallery.