Dan Witz

"I believed that the truth could only be found by a violent rejection of the status quo."

     Dan began creating street art in the late 1970's. Witz received his BFA from Cooper Union in New York in 1980. His talent emerged in the 1980's in New York, using walls to send the public a message. One message raising awareness of the heroin epidemic in the early 90's. Witz had many of his friends pass away due to HIV and overdosses so he created one of his favorite works, the headless, sweatshirt hooded grim reapers. He pasted over 75 of these "Hoody's" strategically around the city, primarily at methadone clinics and the lower east side of the village where the trafficking was high.

     Dan Witz not only does street art but he also paints which he exhibits in galleries. In 2005 he worked on a series of 'Night Paintings'. The series included portraits of delis and convenience stores in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn. He captures these moments in the night and rain in order to create an aura of mystery and isolation. His paints combine Old Master glazing techniques with 21st century digital technology. He begins with a digital print as an underpainting and then layers oil paints on top in order to regenerate the artifical light and quiet mood. Witz explains, "I am concerned with exploring what oil paint on canvas can uniquely do
that no other visual media can. Above all, I am fascinated by oil
painting’s extraordinary ability to create light – not just evoke light,
but to palpably reproduce the experience of light."

http://www.helium.com/items/464595-dan-witz-street-artist

http://www.dfngallery.com/exhibitions/dan_witz.htm