David Dellagi was born in 1970 in Copenhagen, where he lives and works as a visual artist. Between 1987 and 1992 he studied with the multifaceted Lithuanian painter Evgenii Brukman, a pioneer of a new direction in three-dimensional, volumetric, and transparent painting. Having explored various artistic mediums (such as painting, sculpture, animation, and film), his work today focuses on the concretization of collage through pictorial practice.

The starting point of each painting is always the creation of an analog collage, which Dellagi then manipulates through various digital and pictorial processes.

I like to think of my paintings as reminiscent of the magic kaleidoscopes of my childhood. I would hold the kaleidoscope up to my eyes, and when I rotated the end of the tube, it would transform whatever view I pointed it at into magical patterns of light, color, and form.

I don’t create a world out of scratch, but rather – adhering to the possibilities of the collage – recombine already existing elements in new and unexpected ways. This allows me to incorporate a layered visual multiverse of cultural and historical references that are not always obvious on the surface but exist inside each painting, as secrets to be discovered by the spectator.

As a member of the BKF (Danish Visual Artists) and the Danske Grafikere (Danish Graphics Association), David Dellagi has taught at the Københavns Kunstskole in Copenhagen and the Rudersdal Billedskole in Rudersdal. He has also been invited as a guest lecturer at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts and the Bjørn Ignatius Øckenholts Billedskole.

Aside from his work as an artist, he has numerous projects. For example, he’s the author of the article “The Independent Filmmaker and the Institution – The Myth About Harry Smith” (2019), published by the film magazine Balthazar Art. Moreover, between 2014 and 2015, he directed with Adam Fenton two curatorial projects called “Reality Hype Phase I: Mr. Banks Has a Mental Breakdown” and “Reality Hype Phase II: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Reality”.

His solo exhibitions in Copenhagen include Recent Paintings (2022) at Galleri Benoni, Apollo (2022) at The Social Space, David Dellagi (2020) at Politikens Boghal, Closed on Mondays (2018) at CGK Centre for Contemporary Art, Carnivore (2013) at the Danish Graphics Association and The Umbilical Eye (2012) at Marie Kirkegaard Gallery.

Dellagi has also participated in numerous group exhibitions in different galleries and international institutions, such as the Milk Gallery in New York, the London galleries Apiary Gallery and Art Hub Gallery, the Metropolitan Casino in Mexico City, and the Circus Gallery in Los Angeles. Galeria Victor Lopehosted the artist’s first solo exhibition in Spain.