Dan Alva
* The Mastermind

written Hannah Rose Prendergast

Putting a spin on a classic is what Dan Alva does best. Born in 1984, the Miami native comes from a Spanish background of fine artists. He spent his childhood working alongside his father in the family garage and largely credits his craft to him.

Using mixed media, sculpture, and paint, Dan Alva is constantly experimenting until he finds the most ironic or organic pairing, both of which are informed by his primary career in advertising. Today, he pieces the old masters together to tell his own story, leaving everyone to wonder what really came first.

IN TERMS OF YOUR ART, HOW HAS THE PANDEMIC HINDERED YOU, AND HOW HAS IT HELPED?
2020 was a very busy year; collectors were sitting at home looking to decorate their walls or grow their collections. I was able to place double the number of paintings than I did in 2019. It was a year of refocusing and making time for the studio.


DOES WORKING WITH EXISTING ART MAKE YOU FEEL LIKE YOUR WORK IS MORE AUTONOMOUS OR LESS?
Remixing the masters was always my original goal — to paint the way they used to paint and use the materials they used. Slowly, I have realized that I want to push further past the instant recognizability of the masters and make the pieces more unique. In a way, I want to feel a greater sense of ownership over the pieces. I want the viewer to almost question where the basis of the painting came from and what it could be.


HOW DO YOU DECIDE WHICH PAINTINGS TO REMIX?
I work in advertising as a creative director and spend a lot of time behind a computer. I like to take visual breaks. I mindlessly look through images and start to narrow down colors, shapes, and forms. It’s mostly trial and error; every painting I’ve made has another three, four, or five versions that I’ve tested and killed. I like to build everything in Photoshop first to make sure it all fits right and makes sense visually. Some paintings I start right away, others I sit on for a few weeks and keep judging until I decide whether I love or hate them.


GOING BACK TO YOUR OUTSOURCED SERIES, CAN YOU TELL ME MORE ABOUT “COSA NOSTRA”?
The entire Outsourced Series is titled after mafia phrases or references. The paintings feel a bit like bootlegs or stolen works, so I try to embrace that. I also don’t take myself too seriously; titling works with deep-serious-bullshit-meaningful titles doesn’t do it for me.

“Cosa Nostra” is one of my favorites from 2020 that sadly/fortunately has been sold. I hope to buy that piece back someday. The painting is a mix of Neo-Classical and Baroque style painting. The color tones, positioning, and overall composition took me a couple of tries, but I’m happy with where it landed. The little baby chickens bring a smile to my face.

.artist talk
Dan Alva
speaks with
Hannah Rose Prendergast
first published in:
issue 30, 01/2021

WHAT IS THE SIGNIFICANCE OF YOUR LATEST WORK, “THE GRIFTER” STATUE?
“The Grifter” is my first attempt at a 3D form within this series. I’ve read a lot about historical figures like Napoleon and Alexander the Great, and I wanted to bring the same approach to sculpture as I do to my paintings. The bust is about 20lbs of cast resin – one monolithic piece standing at 25” tall. I wanted the bust to look and feel like one solid piece that had been cut with a laser. As I write this, I’ve only been able to create one successful piece. Initially, I was going to make this a series, but I’m starting to consider that, just like my paintings, every work should be a unique one of one.


HOW DO YOU PLAN ON INCORPORATING FASHION INTO YOUR ART IN THE FUTURE?
I think subconsciously [my work] is a way to design for fashion houses without being in that world. I have a deep love for fashion show concepts, production, and the campaigns that houses do. I don’t care much for the clothes, but I am really intrigued by the world they create around them. I tell my wife all the time that I would love to work for a house internally and conceptualize their next advertising campaign. It’s all about high-end visuals without the need for a background story. I love the over-the-top approach most houses implement into their set designs and window displays. I see it as the highest form of corporate art.


WHY DO YOU THINK THAT YOUR ART HAS THE POWER TO LIVE FOREVER?
Technically it will. I burn any piece that I am not happy with, and I take my future very seriously. I can only make so many paintings in one year, so where the works go and who owns them matters a lot to me. I refuse to let a painting go to some trust fund baby for his loft apartment. I’d rather keep the work myself. With almost all my paintings, I write the buyer a note explaining that I plan to buy that specific work back one day. Keeping a close relationship with a buyer matters, and being able to revisit the painting in collections really matters.

Imprinting his contemporary style upon the canons of art history, Dan Alva strikes a fine balance between keeping his source material intact and creating a new life of his own.

While Alva ensures that all of his paintings go to a good home, each piece is made with the intention that one day, it will return to the man that mastered them.

credit header image

Dan Alva, Miami Atelier, Russell Film Company