Paintings by Danny Ferrell
Danny Ferrell is an artist living and working in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In 2014 he received a BFA from Penn State University in drawing and painting, and an MFA in painting from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2016. Ferrell is represented by
the Marinaro Gallery in New York City and Galerie Pact in Paris. He is currently an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Art at Carnegie Mellon University, where he teaches drawing and painting. Ferrell has exhibited in New York City, Pittsburgh and the New England area.
Danny Ferrell was born in Flint, Michigan, and spent his formative years in rural Pennsylvania. In this deeply conservative area, most residents placed religion above all other virtues; the result was anyone deviating from religious law was treated as a herald of immorality. Ferrell’s love for other men violated the cultural norms, forcing him to conceal his identity as a gay person from those in the public sphere.
Consequently, his work represents fantasies and fears about the Other in the form of the queer male experience. By creating code homoerotic images of ubiquitous scenes that could appeal to mainstream audiences, the work is both universal and human. Ferrell admires Cadmus and Tooker and follows their lead to bring together the epic and banal in his work.