Dan Munkus is a painter and conceptual artist exploring the aesthetics of cognition and the effects of time on memory. He also explores imperfection, impermanence, and vulnerability as they relate to the creative process and public exhibition. The son of an engineer and an accountant, his work is almost always a conversation between his inherited sense of precision and practicality and his own desire for spiritual and creative freedom. He chases these impulses with an aspiration to make visual art that sings like music, an interest that comes from his decades spent making music from almost every imaginable vantage point (composer, songwriter/singer, producer, engineer, sound designer). Dan holds a BFA in Fine Arts Practice from the University of California Berkeley, an MFA in Performance and Interactive Media Arts from Brooklyn College, and is currently enrolled at Teachers College, Columbia University in the Studio Practice for Art Educators M.A. Program. He makes work out of Peekskill, NY where he lives with his beautiful wife and two daughters.

	For pricing information or other inquiries, Dan can be contacted at dmunkus@gmail.com.

  • It turns out I like containers. Containers of light. Containers of information.

    My self is put into building the containers but absence is their defining feature. Even when there is form, it’s not meant to be formalized.

    My dad was an engineer, so measurement has always been important to me.

    My mom was an accountant, so I try to keep track of things.

    But I always lose count. 

    I am trying to trust the imperfection of perfect ideas.

    Vulnerability and strength seem to be related.

    I hope my containers can hold the information of others, even if only in passing.

  • Dan Munkus is a painter, musician, and interdisciplinary artist with extensive experience in visual arts, music composition, production and engineering, and cross disciplinary collaborative art making.

    Dan was born in Winfield, IL and transplanted to Southern California at an early age setting the foundation for a lifelong search for, and obsession with, the idea of “home”. His earliest experience of feeling a sense of belonging came in his early twenties while attending college at the University of California, Berkeley (BFA Fine Arts Practice 2001). The wide ranging counter culture of the Bay Area merged with the student body’s and faculty’s sense of intellectual curiosity was a point of awakening for Munkus.

    This period led Munkus to the discovery of Zen Buddhism and a devoted meditation practice lasting seven years. While no longer a practicing Buddhist, the Zen sensibility and search for inner knowledge and understanding, even the aesthetic of Zen paintings, still influence his work and life twenty years later.

    Dan moved to New York City in his late twenties where he fully invested himself in the act of music making in all its forms. In 2013 he earned his MFA in Performance and Interactive Media Arts at Brooklyn College where he formed more long term friendships and collaborative connections while working in the theatrical and performing arts.

    Emerging from a health scare in the fall of 2023, now married with two children, Dan has shifted his attention away from the grind of music production to seek out a creative life that is both robust and conducive to healthy living. That shift has led Munkus back to his earliest passion of mark making and a deeply felt and surprising painting practice.

    Dan makes work in Peekskill, NY where he lives with his beautiful wife and two children. He has released many musical works under his given name, with his band Old Robes, as The Atomic Boxer, more recently as Polka Dot Deli, and working as a producer/engineer with other artists. He has made work internationally and has toured across the United States performing his solo works of music. He is preparing for two-person and solo shows of his paintings in 2026. He can be found most days painting in his backyard studio, tinkering with music, or at the gym. For inquiries please contact Dan at dmunkus@gmail.com

  • Macy Art Gallery, NY, NY - Capstone - July 20 - August 13, 2026

    Sofy Gallery, NY, NY - Memories of Now (group show) - Opening Reception July 23, 6pm - 9pm

    North Eastern Philosophy of Education Society Conference - Presenter - Teachers College, Columbia University - October 10, 2026

  • BAU - Material Systems - Two Person Show with Rachel Dove - Feb. 14 - March 8, 2026

    ArtsWestchester - The Arts Exchange 2026 - Feb. 14 - April 12, 2026

    Kinosaito Community Art Benefit Show - Dec. 2025

    Primer - Macy Art Gallery - Group - Sept. 2 - Oct. 19, 2025

    Hendrick Hudson Free Library - Solo Exhibition - Sept. 4 - Sept. 29, 2025

    BAU Gallery - GRIT - Group - Aug 9 - Sept 7, 2025 - Winner - Two Person Show Awardee 2026

    John C. Hart Memorial Library - Solo Exhibition - March 2025

    Kinosaito Community Art Benefit Show - Dec. 2024

    Club Fit Jefferson Valley - Solo Show - Nov. 2024

    Super Secret Projects - Personal Protest - Group Show - Sept. 2024

    Polka Dot Deli - Oft Come Devil - Aug. 2024

    Kinosaito Community Art Benefit Show - Dec. 2023

    No Grudges - "I Need Somebody" - Aug. 2023 (co-engineer)

    The Atomic Boxer and Oh My Friend - Fist and Stone - June 2023

    Dan Munkus / John Jannone - The Edge of the High Trace (Animation by John Jannone) - Winner Best Experimental Animation at Experimental, Dance, and Music Film Festival, 2022

    Rachel Epp - "Cool Kids in the Cheap Seats" - June 2022 (composer, co-produced with Tommy White, engineer/mix engineer)

    Aviva Jaye - "So Close" - May 2022 (co-produced with Tommy White, engineer/mix engineer)

    Dan Munkus - "Joy Patterns" - Jan 2022

    Dan Munkus - The Edge of the High Trace - Nov. 2021

    Subtle Soup Records - 2013-2020 - Founder/Principal

    Old Robes / John Jannone - "Soldier Online" Animation - Winner Best Animation Feedback Experimental Film Festival

    Old Robes - The Spider and the Spectator - April 2018

    Robot Immigrants - My Heart is a Traveler - April 2013

    Old Robes - Past the Suitors - Nov. 2012

    The Nights Bears - Clytemnestra - Oct. 2012

    The Night Bears - Meat & Light - Sept. 2012

    Diverse Plots Ensemble - Diverse Plots - May 2012

    The Night Bears - Assumptions Made in the Dark - Dec. 2011

    Artsbridge Scholarship Recipient - Spring 2001