Daniel Burley

Gao Gallery presents the second solo show by British artist Daniel Burley (born 1992, London). The exhibition features a series of three sculptures made over the last year that use the folkloric character of the goblin as a motif. Burley’s practice up to this point has engaged in exploring his biography and family history through a colourful and humorous language taking in a diverse range of influences from early 2000s music and fashion trends to esoteric hobbyist pursuits like Warhammer. The Intimate Life Habits and Rituals of the Goblin sees Burley refine an approach to novelty world building as a medium and use goblins as a conceptual and aesthetic framework to explore and carry a series of formal concerns and unlikely networks of associations.

Burley received a BA from Slade School of Fine Art, London in 2016 and Postgraduate Diploma from Royal Academy Schools, London in 2019. Selected recent exhibitions include: Skelf II, Gao Gallery, London, 2020; Hookero Hokeero, D.E.L.F. Projects, Vienna, AT, 2018 (Solo); Premiums, Royal Academy, London, UK, 2018 (Group); Preserves, Artist Run, London, UK 2018 (Group).

The Intricate Life Habits and Rituals of the Goblin is partly based upon a currently unreleased novelty album by Daniel Burley of the same title. Each of the songs is titled after a significant habit or event in an imagined goblin life cycle. The show is the first stage of a project in which Burley hopes to generate a goblin sculpture for 20 of the 23 album track list, resulting in a final exhibition of 20 goblins expressing a variety of emotions and activities.