BIO
Born in Milwaukee, WI, Jimmy Danko (DANKO) is a contemporary fine artist whose practice explores themes of “play” through the intersection of realism and abstraction. Images of American cultural references, autobiographical narratives, commercial design and art history combine in bold colorful compositions of wood, metal and paint. DANKO received his BFA from the University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh, where he focused on painting, design and photography.
DANKO's practice has evolved over the years into a focus on complex sculptural and multidimensional paintings that center on bending reality and distorting time through manipulations of scale, color and context. His work conveys an optimistic narrative that includes ordinary objects, often connected to his childhood and references the vast expanses of visual information that pervade our collective unconscious.
His latest body of work Monuments of Play, currently on view at the Seattle Art Museum SAM Gallery (March 6-March 30, 2025), ponders the power struggle of inspiration, between play and “keeping score”, and further beckons us back to a place of wonder and joy that many of us may have lost sight of. DANKO has enjoyed artist collaborations with Lexus, Converse, and the TV series Battlebots to name a few.
His work has been featured in prestigious gallery shows throughout the US and in private collections all over the world as well as in publications such as The Laboratory Arts Collective and Forbes. He is actively building a new studio in the Pacific Northwest and splits his time between the Seattle area and Los Angeles.
