Daniel Mullen (b. 1985, Glasgow) is a painter based in Amsterdam.
His work explores how perception is shaped—visually, emotionally, and spatially—through relationships between form, color, light, and material. He is interested in how meaning is constructed not in isolation, but through interaction: between surface and depth, between objects and their environment, between viewer and work.
The rectangle functions as a recurring structure across both paintings and sculptural works—not only as a formal anchor, but as a way to generate depth beyond the surface itself. It creates a space in which rhythm and interruption, repetition and instability can unfold. Mullen’s process is precise but not mechanical, guided by systems yet open to disruption. While grounded in geometry, the work resists perfection in favor of nuance, irregularity, and the presence of the hand.
His practice also extends into sculptural forms using mirrored steel, wood, and porcelain. These works carry the same concerns into three dimensions—how perception shifts as the body moves, how material interactions generate new spatial conditions. This sculptural approach is not a departure from painting, but an expansion of its language into physical space.
Across all media, Mullen’s focus remains on perception as a dynamic, relational process. He is less concerned with fixed meanings than with creating situations where seeing becomes active—where attention, movement, and reflection unfold together in real time.
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2025. Upcoming solo, Enlace, Lima, PE.
2024 Book Launch “TRANSFIGURATIONS” and presentation at ART RIO with Zipper Galeria, Sao Paulo, BR.
2024. Primal form, multiple times, FEMA, Cascais, PT
2023 Chromatic Visions, Enlace, Lima, PE.
2022 (IN)VISIBLE WITHIN, Zipper Galeria, Sao Paulo, BR.
2021 EPHEMERAL FIELDS, Gallery Kogan Amaro, Zurich, CH.
2019 IN A REALM OF LUMINESCENCE, Elan Fine Art, Vancouver, CA.
2019 SHIFTING PERCEPTIONS, Marian Cramer Projects, Amsterdam, NL.
2019 COLOUR EQUATION, Kogan Amaro Gallery, São Paulo, BR (Curated by Ana Carolina Ralston)
2018 IN SEARCH OF HIGHER WORLDS, Privateview Gallery, Turin, IT.
2017 FALSE EMPIRE, Appels Gallery, Amsterdam, NL.
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2024. OUR EYES ADJUST TO THE DARK, Sebastián Beltrán, Federico Cartas, Mariana Con, Roberto Cortázar, Pedro Magaña, Daniel Mullen, Fabián Ugalde, and Ernesto Walker.
Heart Ego, San Pedro Garza Garcia, MX
2024 TEST CASE XXXI, Anja Petersen (DK) Jesus Canuto Iglesias (ES) en Brigitte Louter (NL), Lucas Garvey (IE), Milou van Ham (NL) Marlou Breuls (NL) Elise ‘t Hart (NL)
Koos Buster (NL), Daniel Mullen (UK/SCO), Sigrid Calon (NL) en Anina Major (BH), EKWC (European Ceramic Work Centre), Oisterwijk, NL
2023 ALTERED PERCEPTIONS, Katja Loher, Jaime Poblete, Paolo Cavinato, Stefano Caimi, The Flat Massimo Carasi, Milan, IT.
2023 COLOR OF SOUND, Anne Patterson, Vance Kirkland, Mary Ellen Bute, Andy Akiho, Brad Johnson, Daniel Mullen with Lucy Cordes Engelman.
Curated by Courtney Gilbert. Sun Valley Museum of Art, Idaho, US.
2023 CA$H’23, Franktaal Gallery, Rotterdam , NL
2023 OF VOIDS AND PORTALS, Warehouse Gallery, Shanghai, CN
2023 LICKING BLACKBERRY JAM FROM YOUR FRONT TEETH: Blanco, Ghent BE.
Marlene Elgueta, Iván Krassoievitch, Alejandra López & Lena Longefay, José Pedro Godoy, Ricardo Alcaide, Felipe Muhr,
SAPLAB, Jorge Tacla, Felipe Mujica, Yue Yuan, Fabiola Burgos.
2022 WYSIWYG, Curated by Bob van Orsouw & Oliver Muller, Glarus, CH
2022 CATCH 22’ Franktaal gallery, Rotterdam, NL
2021 WORLDS OF COLOR, Light Forms Art Center, Hudson, New York, US
Judy Pfaff, Soo Sunny Park, Martina A Muller, Laura Summer, Sampsa Pirtola & Daniel Mullen.
2020 LIFE ON TRALFAMADORE, The Flat - Massimo Carasi, Milan, IT
Sali Muller-Paolo Cavinato & Daniel Mullen, The Flat - Massimo Carasi, Milan, IT
2020 DECADE Marian Cramer Projects, Amsterdam, NL
2020 CHAPTER 3HREE, Het Hem, Zaandam, NL (Curated by Maarten Spryut and Rieke Vos)
2020 BIENAL DE CURITIBA, Curitiba, BR (Curated by Massimo Scari, Oscar Niemeyer Museum)
2019 OSTRALE BIENNIALE 019, Dresden, DE
2019 DUSK TILL DAWN, The Flat-Massimo Carasi, Milan, IT
2019 AESTHETICA ART PRIZE (shortlisted), York Art Gallery, York, UK
2018 Winter Show, Elan Fine Art, Vancouver, CA
2017 A WORLD AWAY: Francis Boeske Projects, Amsterdam, NL. Neil Fortune, Niek Peters & Daniel Mullen.
2017 RADIATING SPACES, Direktorenhaus Museum, Berlin, DE (Curated by Pascal Johanssen)
2017 SPACE TIME AND ARCHITECTURE, Cityscapes Foundation, Amsterdam, NL
2017 RHIZOOM-BWHS 2.0, Cityscapes Foundation, Burgerweeshuis, Amsterdam, NL
2016 SPACE SHAPES AND VOYAGES, Sanquine, Amsterdam, NL (Curated by Cityscapes Foundation)
2015 SPACE TIME AND ARCHITECTURE: Franck Gribling and Daniel Mullen, Cityscapes Foundation, Amsterdam, NL
2014 Dutch Royal Prize for Painting, Palais Amsterdam, Amsterdam, NL
SELECTED ART FAIRS
2024. ART RIO, Zipper Galeria, Sao Paulo, BR.
2024. PArC, Enalce Galeria, Lima, PE
2024 SP-Arte, Zipper Galeria, Sao Paulo, BR
2023 Art Toronto, Paul kyle Gallery, Vancouver, CA
2023 ArtRIo, Zipper Galeria, Sao Paulo, BR
2023 SP-Arte, Zipper Galeria, Sao Paulo, BR
2023 Art on Paper, FrankTaal Gallery, NL
2023 Art Rotterdam, Flat Massimo Gallery, IT
2023 Art Rotterdam, FrankTaal Gallery, NL
2022 ArtRio, Zipper Galeria, Sao Paulo, BR
2022 SP-Arte, Zipper Galeria, Sao Paulo, BR
2022 SP-Arte, Galeria Kogan Amaro, Sao Paulo, BR
2021 SP-Arte, Galeria Kogan Amaro, Sao Paulo, BR
2021 Art Rotterdam, Marian Cramer Projects, NL
2020 Art Rotterdam, Marian Cramer Projects, NL
2020 Art Rotterdam, Frank Taal Gallery, NL
2020 Untitled, Art San Francisco, Kogan Amaro Gallery, US
2019 SP-ARTE, Kogan Amaro Gallery, Sao Paulo, BR
2018 Solo Booth SP-ARTE, Privateview Gallery, Sao Paulo, BR
RESIDENCY
2023 EKWC, Oisterwijk, NL
2022 Casa Lu Residency, Mexico City, MX
2022 Wassaic Artist Residency, New York, US
2019 FAMA Foundation, Itu, Sao Paulo, BR
AWARDS
2019 Shortlisted for the Aesthetica Art Prize, UK
2017 Winner, Public Prize, Summer Show, Nieuw Dakota and Francis Boeske Projects Amsterdam, NL
2016 Longlisted for the Aesthetica Art Prize, UK
2014 Nominated for the Dutch Royal Prize for Painting, NL
2012 Nominated for the Buning Brongers Prize for Painting, NL
COLLECTIONS
FAMA MUSEUM, Itu, Sao Paulo, BR
SCHLUMBERGER, Houston, USA
ERASMUS MC, Rotterdam, NL
IMPACT-Vastegoed, NL
AEGON, NL
AKZO NOBLE, NL
SANQUINE BLOODBANK, NL
HUGHES HUBBARD and REED LLP, Miami, USA
EDISON INVESTMENT RESEARCH, London, UK
PACE ARCHITECTS, Kuwait
EDUCATION
2006 - 2011 BA Fine Art, Gerrit Rietveld Academie, Amsterdam, Netherlands