With a commitment to creating and curating surprising forms of art, Daniel “Attaboy” Seifert has forged a varied career often fusing subversion with disconcerting whimsy.
Atta’s recent work features sculptural, often interactive painted works on multiple levels of layered wood, which investigate themes of death, decomposition and rebirth.
Undergrowth, a month-long exhibition at Gallery 30 South, will display over 60 works Atta has created since, showing the evolution of this series, which began at the end of 2017. The body of work was the first Atta created as self-therapy. For the first time, the experienced artist and designer’s work became a comfort. After the deaths of his older brother and grandfather Seifert channeled and referenced themes which over-populated his grandmother’s ceramics and needle-points, albeit with a much darker, personal take.
Attaboy Black and White Small Shroom 1 acrylic on hand-cut wood 3.5 x 3.25 x .5 in. Sold
Attaboy Black and White Small Shroom 2 acrylic on hand-cut wood 3.5 x 2.5 x .5 in. Sold
Attaboy Black and White Small Shroom 3 acrylic on hand-cut wood 3.5 x 2.5 x .5 in. Sold
Attaboy Dangerous Botanical (study) acrylic on hand-cut wood 6.5 x 5.5 x .5 in. Sold
Attaboy Mysterious Soft Form acrylic on hand-cut wood 6.5 x 5.5 x .5 in. Sold
Attaboy Lil Guy acrylic on hand-cut wood 4 x 3 x .5 in. Sold
Attaboy Small Shroom 1 acrylic on hand-cut wood 5.25 x 7.25 in.
Attaboy Small Shroom 2 acrylic on hand-cut wood 10 x 7.5 in.
Attaboy Small Shroom 3 acrylic on hand-cut wood 5.75 x 11 in. Sold
Attaboy Small Shroom 4 acrylic on hand-cut wood 8.75 x 5 in. Sold
Attaboy Small Shroom 5 acrylic on hand-cut wood 8 x 8.75 in.
Attaboy Small Shroom 6 acrylic on hand-cut wood 6 x 6.5 in.
Attaboy Small Shroom 7 acrylic on hand-cut wood 9.75 x 2.25 in. Sold
Attaboy Spore 1 acrylic on hand-cut wood 13 x 4 x .75 in. Sold
Attaboy Spore 2 acrylic on hand-cut wood 13 x 4 x .75 in.
Attaboy Erupting Cannon Cluster acrylic on hand-cut wood 22.5 x 5.5 x .75 in. Sold
Attaboy Hand-Sized Pollinator acrylic on hand-cut wood 15.333 x 4.75 x .5 in. Sold
Attaboy Lavanating Geyser Shroom acrylic on hand-cut wood 13.75 x 4.5 x .75 in. Sold
Attaboy Festering Shroom acrylic on hand-cut wood 24 x 10 x 1.25 in. Sold
Attaboy Terra Bouquet acrylic on hand-cut wood 15 x 9 x 1.5 in.
Attaboy Reaching Bulbous Shroom Chain acrylic on hand-cut wood 18 x 12 x 3 in. Sold
Attaboy Tendrilled Shroom Cluster acrylic on hand-cut wood 19 x 10.5 x 1.75 in.
Attaboy Lady of the Shroom acrylic on hand-cut wood 11.5 x 4.25 x .75 in. Sold
Attaboy Growth 2 (mask) acrylic on hand-cut wood 15 x 6.5 x 1.25 in.
Attaboy Decomposing Hand of a Wraith (study for Shroom Corpse) acrylic on hand-cut wood 16.5 x 6 x 1 in.
Attaboy Hi Guy acrylic on hand-cut wood 11 x 2 in.
Attaboy Hey, Guy acrylic on hand-cut wood 9.75 x 6.75 in. Sold
Attaboy Decomposing Appendage acrylic on hand-cut wood 5 x 14.5 x .75 in.
Attaboy Garden Wall 1 (study) acrylic on hand-cut, layered wood Size TBA Sold
Attaboy Garden Wall 2 (study) acrylic on hand-cut, layered wood Size Not Available
Attaboy Burst (large) acrylic on hand-cut wood 20.5 x 20 x 1 in.
Attaboy Burst 2 (pink) acrylic on hand-cut wood 10.5 x 11 x 1.5 in.
Attaboy Burst 3 (green) acrylic on hand-cut wood 10.5 x 11 x 1.5 in.
Attaboy Stars in Your Eyes (Will Burn Your Retinas) acrylic on hand-cut wood 27.5 x 28 x 1.75 in.
Attaboy Shroomscape acrylic on hand-cut wood 45 x 20 x 1.75 in.
Attaboy Turmeric Blossom acrylic on hand-cut wood 13 x 9.25 x 1.5 in.
Attaboy Mortal Cat Skull acrylic on hand-cut wood 36 x 27 x 3.75 in.
Attaboy Cage acrylic on hand-cut wood 25 x 21.5 x 1.5 in. Sold
Attaboy San Simeon acrylic on hand-cut wood layers 18.5 x 19.5 x 3 in.
Attaboy Cranial Sprout (Skull) acrylic on hand-cut wood 27 x 19 x 3 in.
Attaboy Mushroom Cross acrylic on hand-cut wood 16.5 x 22 x 1.5 in.
Attaboy Pelvis acrylic on hand-cut wood 16.5 x 8.5 x 1 in.
Attaboy Two Handed Sword acrylic on hand-cut wood 5 x 20 x 1 in.
Attaboy Quagmire Shroom Cluster acrylic on hand-cut wood 19.75 x 17 x .75 in.
Attaboy Rebirth (Three Scoops) acrylic on hand-cut wood 32 x 17 x .75 in.
Attaboy Anniversarial Shroom Cluster acrylic on hand-cut wood 21.5 x 9.25 x .75 in.
Attaboy Royal Shroom Cap acrylic on hand-cut wood 21 x 9.75 x .75 in.
Attaboy Twin Cap Shroom Cluster acrylic on hand-cut wood 21 x 6 x 1 in.
Attaboy Vertical Hold acrylic on hand-cut wood 38 x 15x 3.25 in.
Attaboy Shrooming Geisel acrylic on hand-cut wood 22.25 x 7 x 1 in.
Attaboy Cataclysmic Zygote Shroom acrylic on hand-cut wood 25.25 x 16 x 1.5 in.
Attaboy In Bloom acrylic on wood panel 48 x 36 x .75 in.
Attaboy Chest Blossom acrylic on hand-cut wood 19 x 21 x 2.5 in. Sold
Attaboy Quixotic acrylic on wood panel 36 x 24 x .75 in.
Attaboy Sherbert Garden 1 acrylic on hand-cut wood 9 x 16 x .5 in.
Attaboy Sherbert Garden 2 acrylic on hand-cut wood 11 x 16 x .5 in.
Attaboy Sherbet Garden 3 acrylic on hand-cut wood panel 18 x 22 x 1.25 in.
Attaboy Swamp Life acrylic on hand-cut wood 18 x 22 in.
Attaboy Grow Farm acrylic on hand-cut wood 33 x 22 x 2 in. Sold
Attaboy Upwards Champignons acrylic on hand-cut wood 15.5 x 16 x 1.5 in.
Attaboy Emperor Shroom acrylic on hand-cut wood 46 x 14 x 1.75 in.
Attaboy Mastoid Garden acrylic on hand-cut wood 13 x 15 x 2.75 in.
Attaboy Tilting Mushroom (Night and Day) acrylic on two-sided hand-cut wood sculpture with lead weight 21 x 7 x 4 in.
Attaboy Wait for the Tasty Apocalypse (Shroom Cloud) acrylic on hand-cut wood 6.25 x 5.25 x 1.25 in.
Attaboy Growth 2 Sculpture (study) acrylic on hand-cut wood layers 12.5 x 3.25 x 3.25 in.
Attaboy Formation Growth Sculpture (study) acrylic on hand-cut wood layers 14 x 12 x 2.5 in.
Attaboy Fungal Flora acrylic on hand-cut wood 36 x 36 x 2 in.
Attaboy Dystonia acrylic on 4 panels 62 x 62 x 1.5 in.
“After the election I found myself obsessively painting mushrooms, the way my ceramicist grandmother used to when I was a child. I painted 125 of them on cardboard and started planting them in my town. I think it was to spread unexpected glimmers of surprise, to remind people to still pay attention to the little things around them. I then sent them to friends in NYC, Portland, Ohio and elsewhere. These paintings evolved into paintings on wood, which have become just as much sculptures as paintings. In a way, I’m now building paintings, with sometimes dozens of layers of wood, into 2 1/2 D reliefs. Up until this year, I’ve never enjoyed painting. It would frustrate me to no end, but now I’m addicted to figuring out these pictorial puzzles… Much like a mushroom that grows on the decay of dead matter, it’s an artist’s job to deconstruct and build upon old ideas, into new ones.” – Attaboy, as told to USAARtNews
Attaboy’s work has been seen in books, magazines, galleries, museums, television and many designer stores. His influences include Alexander Calder, Maurice Nobel, Eyvinde Earle, Dr. Seuss, and the futurist Syd Mead.
In 2005 artists Annie Owens and Attaboy co-founded Hi-Fructose magazine, which has become a best selling art magazine with a global reach. In 2009, in order to better define the scope of the magazine, New Contemporary Art was added to the masthead. Since, the term has been adopted by many galleries, museums and artists. Hi-Fructose: The New Contemporary Art Magazine was honored with a ten year retrospective titled Turn the Page: The First Ten Years of Hi-Fructose”, which premiered at the Virginia MOCA, and travelled to the Akron Museum of Art and the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento, CA. The publication has spawned a popular series of hardcover books, elaborately designed box sets, curated shows, and a recent Hi-Fructose hardcover distributed by Abrams books focused on New Contemporary Fashion.
Atta and Annie live in Richmond. California with their pug Donut and Ripley the one-eyed wonder dog. Following Undergrowth, Attaboy’s installation Cradle of Life and art works will be featured in an at the San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art exhibition Surreal Sublime, this June.
Contact gallery director Matt Kennedy for purchase information, press materials, or to be plan a visit outside regular gallery hours (12-6 Th-Sun).
Also produced exclusively for this exhibition is a series of Shroombots, hand-painted, machine-cut, transformable and posable wooden toys. These are available as take-away purchases that can be also be shipped immediately with an online or phone purchase.
Attaboy Shroombot (grey) acrylic on mahchine-cut wood 7 x 8 in. (telescopes to 13 in. high)
Attaboy Shroombot (blue) acrylic on mahchine-cut wood 7 x 8 in. (telescopes to 13 in. high) Sold
Attaboy Shroombot (grey/pink) acrylic on mahchine-cut wood 7 x 8 in. (telescopes to 13 in. high)
Attaboy Shroombot (violet) acrylic on mahchine-cut wood 7 x 8 in. (telescopes to 13 in. high)
Attaboy Shroombot (mustard) acrylic on mahchine-cut wood 7 x 8 in. (telescopes to 13 in. high) Sold
Attaboy Shroombot (pink/purple/tan) acrylic on mahchine-cut wood 7 x 8 in. (telescopes to 13 in. high)
Attaboy Shroombot (brown/pink) acrylic on mahchine-cut wood 7 x 8 in. (telescopes to 13 in. high)
Attaboy Shroombot (pink) acrylic on mahchine-cut wood 7 x 8 in. (telescopes to 13 in. high)
Attaboy Shroombot (green/pink) acrylic on mahchine-cut wood 7 x 8 in. (telescopes to 13 in. high)
Gallery 30 South is located at 30 S. Wilson Ave. Pasadena, CA 91106. Hours: Thursday through Sunday, 12-6PM or by appointment. Tel: (323)547-3227 email: info@gallery30south.com