FUTURE RELICS: Artifacts for a New World

Dan45 Hernandez (he/him, b. 1977 American) works and lives in Las Vegas, Nevada. Dan has a BFA focused on sculpture from the University of Nevada Las Vegas. Dan45 creates mixed media artworks that aim to remind us of the persistence of childhood nostalgia through whimsical references to cartoons, toys, movies, cassette tapes, pizza slices, Coke, and cupcakes. Growing up in a peripatetic, low-income military family, he saw how intense memories can attach themselves to cheap, transportable pop culture objects, such as Pez dispensers and comic books. His work is informed by his awareness of the emotional weight of these mass-market products. His gallery installations consider the different social and environmental forces that shape our self-perception. Based in Las Vegas, he has exhibited in Nevada, Utah, and California. He is the creator of SOCIAL COMA zine and a core member of the Las Vegas street art collective Cult 33. He recently started a new fashion brand with his best friend/lover, LovervilleUSA. His wood sculptures have appeared quietly in urban environments across the Northwest.

Photo credit: Samantha Hettich