London based painter, print maker, designer.



Daniel picked up a pencil before he had even learnt to walk. From an early age had an exceptional gift for capturing facial expressions through his drawings. He got his first piece of work published when he was 4 years old. As a youth he was so prolific that by the age of 23 he had created over 1,000 pieces of art including: Drawings, Paintings and Prints.

His first commission was selected by Dylan Jones (GQ Editor), Faris Rotter (The Horrors) and legendary record sleeve designer Peter Saville for an exhibition of the most iconic album cover art of the last four decades.

Below is a more detailed run down of what Daniel has been up to for the last 28 years including early works.

Born in 1981, Halsall grew up in Leigh in the North West of England near Manchester. He comes from a strong artistic family. His father is an artist/art teacher and his mother a fashion designer/lecturer. From the age of 4-7 Daniel went to art workshops at museums and galleries where he learnt to paint with water colour, make sculptures and do prints.

As teenager he drew constantly inspired by artists such as: Jean-Michel Basquiat, Picasso, Matisse and the drawings of Leonardo Da Vinci.

Drawings 1998 – 2000



When he was 19 years old he moved to London to study Fashion Photography at The London College Of Fashion. Digital Photography was a subject that Daniel had not explored before and he was keen to learn more about it. Whilst there he was introduced to Photoshop and several other computer graphics programs which he started to work with, after a year on the course he started to use Photoshop more and more and the Photographs he was working with soon became a fusion of photography, art and digital imagery.

Whilst on the course Daniel became heavily influenced by Japanese artists such as: Hiroshige, Hokusai, Chiho Aoshima, Aya Takano and Takashi Murakami.

His first exhibition was at the Bettie Morton Gallery in London 2003 curated by friend Dina Lewy, exhibiting a series of Digital/Photography/Graphic prints. During this period he worked for The Light Surgeons - a video and motion graphic company who specialise in live performances in locations such as the ICA, Victoria & Albert Museum and the Royal Festival Hall. He also worked with them on commissions for clients including Zero 7, UNKLE and Firetrap.

Later that year he exhibited at Liverpool Biennial in a music and art event held at the Academy 2 theatre in Liverpool. Creating the backdrop to the theatre stage with music acts performing in-front including Luke Vibert, Chris Clark, Rob Hall, and Matthew Halsall. Also in 2003 Daniel collaborated with his brother Matthew on a live show at “The Fact Art Gallery” in Liverpool creating the visuals for a huge cinema screen to go with the music.

His next exhibitions were a series of group shows at The Imitate Gallery in Manchester from 2004 to 2005, which featured some of Daniel’s paintings and drawings.



Digital Works London: 2001 - 2004





In 2005 Daniel did an exhibition in Whitechapel East London entitled “Citrus Shapes” showing a series of large canvases with flowing shapes of figures.

Following on from this he did a group exhibition at Polished T Gallery in Liverpool in 2006 alongside Will Barras and Japanese artist Chiyo Arae. Both artists heavily influenced Daniel future works.



Citrus Shapes Series: 2005





In 2006 - 2008 he did a series of Print shows at Tampopo in central Manchester showing his “The Lunar Ambience Series” of prints. A heavily detailed set of prints influenced by artist such as “ Yoshitomo Nara and Takeshi Murakami’s Kaika Kiki collective of Japanese pop artists. The prints were received extremely well with the first show selling all the works on sale.

2008 Daniel was invited to take part in a prestigious exhibition celebrating 40 years cutting edge record album sleeve designs called ‘Spin- The Art of Record Design’ exhibiting his record sleeve design for singer songwriter Nancy Elizabeth’s album “Battle & Victory”. The exhibition took place at the prestigious “Institute of Arts” in Mayfair in London. Later that year he was nominated for Album Designer of the Year and exhibited in central London with “Art Vinyl” in a exhibition of the best vinyl designs of 2008, in which Daniel’s sleeve for Nancy Elizabeth finished 18 out of the top 50, with the eventual prize going to the sleeve for Fleet Of Foxes.

In 2009 the company Teapot Publishing produced a range of greetings cards, postcards and prints using images from Daniel’s Lunar Ambiance Series of artwork that are now sold through shops and galleries throughout the country.



Painting & Prints: 2005 – 2008

 

 

Grolsch Commision / Paintings Of Amsterdam / Completed -2009

 

Starts work in 2009 on series of prints entitled “Ambient Art Series” inspired by musician’s such as Aphex Twin, Boards Of Canada and Aleski Perala. The prints are also inspired by Japanese woodblock artists, particularly the bird and flower works.

 

Ambient Art Series 2009 - 2010