AO Art Observed™

Dash Snow via Artinfo

Downtown enfant terrible Dash Snow died early this morning of a heroin overdose.   Gawker broke the news earlier this morning, citing sources on Twitter and a number of sources known to be close to Snow.  At roughly 11am, the New York Times confirmed the death citing that it had made contact with Snow’s grandmother, Christophe de Menil, who confirmed that he had indeed died of a drug overdose on Monday.  The location of the death was reportedly the Layfayette House, a hotel off the Bowery in Lower Manhattan and the time was roughly 5AM according to sources reporting to Art Observed.

The artist was a controversial and somewhat mythical figure of New York’s downtown art scene.  Originally of the de Menil clan, a family prominent in arts patronage, Dash ran away from home to live a controversial life of mischief and art that was open in its reference to drugs.  Coming to prominence out of the graffiti crew he helped found, Irak, as well as through the works of friends and fellow Dan Colen and Ryan McGinley, Snow attracted much attention in the art world, as well as some criticism, when his body fluid-stained newspapers started showing in influential galleries, including Rivington Arms and Peres Projects.  In 2006, Dash Snow was featured in the Whitney Biennial. While his art received mixed reviews, the persona he created through the documentation of his lifestyle had a mythic aura to it, certainly furthered by a long profile by New York Magazine two years ago, where Dash Snow and close knit group were the cover story. Dash Snow was included in a 2006 Wall Street Journal article titled “The 23-Year Old Masters”, counted him among ten top emerging US artists.   Dash Snow first showed at the recently closed Rivington Arms off the Bowery in New York, helmed by Melissa Bent and Mirabelle Marden, daughter of painter Brice Marden.  In 2008 Dash Snow moved to Peres Projects, with galleries in New York, Berlin and Los Angeles under Javier Peres, who was also a close friend.   Dash Snow has had solo exhibitions at Peres Projects, Rivington Arms in New York and Contemporary Fine Arts in Berlin.   His work has been collected by prominent collectors such as Charles Saatchi, Adam Sender and Dakis Joannou.  His work is included in the Whitney Museum of Art and the Brooklyn Museum.

Dash Snow with Dan Colen and Ryan McGinley photographed in New York Magazine

Dash Snow is the son of Taya Thurman and her former husband, Chris Snow.  He is also a great-grandson of the founders of the Menil Collection in Houston, often cited as one of the most significant privately assembled art collections in America, Dominique de Menil and John de Menil, who were French textile and oil-drilling heirs. His maternal grandfather is Buddhist scholar Robert Thurman, his maternal grandmother was set and costume designer Christophe de Menil, and an aunt was actress Uma Thurman.

In 1999 Snow married artist Agathe Snow, who is often referred to as his “ex.”  Dash Snow leaves behind a daughter, Secret Aliester Ramirez Messenger Santa Creeper, whom he fathered with Jade Berreau in 2007.   Dash Snow was 27.

Dash Snow, New York Artist, Dies at 27 [NY Times]
Artist Dash Snow Dead of Drug Overdose [Artinfo]
Dash Snow, Artist Linked to N.Y.C. Downtown Scene, Dies at 27 [Bloomberg]
Dash Snow, Downtown Artist, Said to Be Dead of Overdose [Gawker]
Artist Dash Snow Dead From Drug Overdose [NYMagazine]
In Memoriam | Terence Koh’s Dash Snow Tribute [The Moment]
Subversive artist Dash Snow dies [Independent]
Chasing Dash Snow (2007) [New York Magazine]
Dash Snow – Whitney Biennial 2006 [Whitney]
Dash Snow Bio – Peres Projects [Peres Projects]
Dash Snow – Selected Works [Saatchi Gallery]
Dash Snow Profile [Art Observed]

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 14th, 2009 at 12:06 pm and is filed under Art News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.