selected exhibitions

selected bibliography

Marianna Reggiani, Wilhelm-Hack-Museum in Germany hosts a group exhibition that reflects on the condition of women artists from 1950 to present times, ArtFrame, June 13, 2025
Francesca Iannotta, Tra memoria personale e memoria collettiva: nel tempo di Daniela Comani, tesi di laurea, Storia dell’Arte Contemporanea, Facoltà di Lettere e Filosofia, Sapienza Università, Roma, 2025
Brigitte Werneburg, Doña Quijote der Lesarten, taz - Die Tageszeitung, 16.10.2024
Emanuela Zanon, Daniela Comani: Supporto memoria, Juliet Art Magazine, No. 217, Aprile 2024
Vincenzo Di Rosa, Sono stata io. Autobiofiction e racconto storico nel lavoro di Daniela Comani, Fata Morgana, No. 52 - Storia, Gennaio Aprile 2024
Giulia Elisa Bianchi, Nell’arte la manipolazione del linguaggio è ciò che la rende intrigante. Scrittura 1: Daniela Comani, Juliet Art Magazine, 24.05.2024
Gianluca Marziani, Daniela Comani, ribaltamenti di senso (e sesso), Artuu, 13.02.2024
Ivan D’Alberto, Daniela Comani: Perturbazione, Segno 294, Gen/Feb 2024
Cecilia Buccioni, Disturbance: the new installation by Daniela Comani at Fondazione La Rocca, Juliet Art Magazine, 09.01.2024
Giangavino Pazzola, Daniela Comani: Supporto memoria / Memory Device, 2024
Elsa Barbieri, You Are Mine: Daniela Comani, Exibart, January 2023
Peter Backof, Mit dem Finger auf der Landkarte 2.0, WDR 5 Scala - aktuelle Kultur, 19.01.2023
Daniela Comani und "Stopover" im Essener Museum Folkwang, Kunstforum International, 19.01.2023
In Orlandos Bibliothek – Ein Gespräch mit Daniela Comani, Moderation: Annika Schank, Radio Folkwang, 27. Folge, 18. Januar 2023
Luca Panaro, Pratiche di autorappresentazione nella fotografia italiana contemporanea, Flash Art Italia, No. 359, inverno 2022-23
Claudia Pansera, Daniela Comani on show in Rome with YOU ARE MINE, Juliet Art Magazine, 17.11.2022
Ida Panicelli, Daniela Comani / La Galleria Nazionale, Roma, Art Forum, December 2022
Gianluca Ranzi, Osservatorio Art, Arte Fiera, Bologna, 21.10.2021
Marco Enrico Giacomelli, 212 romanzi, 424 frasi. Intervista a Daniela Comani sulla sua nuova opera-mostra, Artribune, 12.03.2021
Leonardo Regano, The Beginning The End. Intervista a Daniela Comani Espoarte, 10.02.2021
Emanuela Zanon, Daniela Comani. The Beginning The End, Juliet Art Magazine, January, 22, 2021
Veronica Santi, Daniela Comani, The Beginning The End, critical text for the solo exhibition at Galleria Studio G7, Bologna, 2020
Elena Del Drago, Radio RAI 3, June 21, 2020
Nicola Kuhn, Mit Daniela Comani einmal um die Welt, Der Tagesspiegel, 24.04.2020
Interview Daniela Comani: Planet Earth: 21st Century, Postcards of a virtual journey, KooZA/rch, April 24, 2020
David Wagner, Corona Tagebuch, Zeit Online, April 4, 2020
Brigitte Werneburg, Überflug über das 21. Jahrhundert, taz - Die Tageszeitung, Berlin, 07.04.2020
Elena Franco, Il paesaggio fotografato: tra prossimità e distanza, tra analogico e virtuale, Il Giornale dell'Architettura, 24.03.2020
Jacqueline Ceresoli, Daniela Comani, Ordine e Metodo, Galleria Milano, Exibart, January 2020
Nicoletta Graziano, I paesaggi urbani di Daniela Comani alla Galleria Milano, Exibart, December 2019
Angela Madesani, Cartoline Virtuali: Daniela Comani a Milano, Artribune, December 27, 2019
Viktor Misiano, It Was Me. Diary 1900-1999, in "The Human Condition", MMOMA, Moscow, 2019
Vera Tollmann, Wow, that's so postcard!, Planet Earth: 21st Century, Humboldt Books, Milan, 2019
Dylan Amirio, Reimagination of the World, The Jakarta Post, November 6, 2018
Antonella Sbrilli, Monsieur Bovary incontra Mr Dalloway, Alfabeta, December 10, 2016
Brigitte Werneburg, Daniela Comani: Wie die Sonne untergeht, taz - Die Tageszeitung, October 18, 2016
Hajo Schiff, Weltdeutende Text-Kunst, TAZ, May 27, 2016
Contribution to Post-Election Artists Dossier, Grey Room 65, New York, Fall 2016
Jessica Gelt, Daniela Comani surprises with gender-bender film posters, Los Angeles Times, February 22, 2015
Chris Rusak, Oscar, Untucked: Artist Daniela Comani's Rewrite for Hollywood, SFAQ, February 5, 2015
Christopher Knight, In Daniela Comani's movie universe, gender assumptions get flipped, Los Angeles Times, January 31, 2015
Catherine Wagley, The Woman Who Wasn't There, LA WEEKLY, January 14, 2015
Antonella Sbrilli, diteci di oggi, pagina99, 5 aprile 2014
Karin Salm, Eine glückliche Ehe, Radio SRF2 Kultur, 03/02/2014
Art aber fair, Daniela Comani: Eine glückliche Ehe, Radioeins, 6. November 2013
Jillian Steinhauer, The Women of the Miami Project, Hyperallergic, December 8, 2012
Federico Chiara, About Books: Reloading classics, Vogue, 11/2012, p 70
Sabina Minardi, Cambio di sesso, L'Espresso, Blog, 12 settembre 2012
Paola Naldi, Il mio manifesto - intervista a Daniela Comani, La Repubblica, 31 luglio 2012
Anna Pataczek, Manipulativ: Daniela Comani in der Galerie After the Butcher, Der Tagesspiegel, 28. Juli 2012
Michael Granberry, The Dallas Morning News, July 14, 2012
Daniela Comani: New Publication, Magenta Magazine Online, Summer 2012, Volume 3, No2
Nicola Kuhn, Mehr Berlin: Daniela Comani, Der Tagesspiegel, 7. Januar 2012
Diacritics: Contemporary Italian Thought (2), Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, 2012
Sebastiano Mauri, "All You need is...", Flash Art Italy, Dicembre Gennaio 2012, pp 70-72
Sleek, 31, Autumn issue, 2011, pp 94, 220
Carolyn Kellogg, "What if it were 'Mr. Dalloway'? Book covers revisited", Los Angeles Times, May 20, 2011
Sharon Mizota, "Daniela Comani at Charlie James Gallery", Los Angeles Times, April 21, 2011
Catherine Wagley, "Happy Marriage, Center Stage", Daily Serving, April 29, 2011
feministische studien, 28. Jahrgang - Nr. 2 - November 2010
John Quin, Daniela Comani 365/51/1, in Art Review, April 2010
Brigitte Werneburg, Zur Bebilderung dieser Beilage, in: Literataz (Taz-Beilage) 12.03.2009
Daniela Comani, Det var jag. Dagbok 1900-1999, Paletten #272, Göteborg, 2008
Elena Zanichelli, Daniela Comani. He sido yo..., in Exit Express, #32, Madrid, 2007-08
Federica Muzzarelli, L'immagine del desiderio, Mondadori, 2009
Nette Mädchen contribution by Daniela Comani for Die Planung / A Terv #25, a magazine from 2011, summer 2007
Ingeborg Wiensowski, Atemlos durch die Zeit, in: KulturSPIEGEL 11/2007
Inke Arns, in: History will repeat itself, Revolver, Frankfurt a.M., 2007
Claudio Marra, in: L'immagine infedele, Bruno Mondadori Editori, Milano, 2006
Angela Madesani, Dal particolare al molteplice, in: Comanicasino, Revolver, Frankfurt a.M., 2006
Hanne Loreck, Performing show and tell, in: Eine glückliche Ehe, Goldrausch Art IT, Berlin, 2005
Simone Kindler, in: Permanent zeitgenössisch, Haus am Waldsee, Berlin, 2005
Angela Madesani, in: Storia della Fotografia, Bruno Mondadori Editori, S. 285, Milano 2005
Donata Negrini, in: Arte sull'acqua, Non Capovolgere, S. 25, Mantova 2005
Manuela Zanelli, Tranches de vie - Strategie del quotidiano tra arte e vita, in: Tranches de vie, Ex-convento di S. Maria, Gonzaga, 2001
Loretta Guerrini, La lucida ironia di Daniela Comani, in: Arteletta, 4/2000
Dorothea Strauss, I close my eyes, in: (O.m.U.), Neuer Berliner Kunstverein, Berlin, 1997
Alexander Tolnay, (O.m.U.), in: (O.m.U.), Neuer Berliner Kunstverein, Berlin, 1997
Reinhold Happel, In den Schichtungen von Zeit und Raum, in: Daniela Comani, Kunstverein Braunschweig, 1997
Eva Karcher, Die Spuren einer kurzen Umarmung, in: ART Nr. 10, 1996
Raffaella Gattiani, Double Drawings, in: Titolo Nr. 21, 1996
Dario Trento, Comani, visi anonimi di squallide metropoli, in: La Repubblica, 5.9.1996
Dorothea Strauss, Die Kunst des Lesens, in: fön Nr. 20, Kunsthalle St. Gallen, 1996
Bojana Pejic, Nach-Bilder, in: Double Drawings, Künstlerdorf Schöppingen, 1996
Bernhard Kerber, in: Speculum Absconditum, Wiensowski & Harbord, Berlin, 1995
Stefan Rasche, Sprachgewirr und Charakter, in: Station Deutschland, Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin, 1995
Reinhold Happel, in: Fotografie als Bild, Kunstverein Braunschweig, 1995
Alessandra Pace, Communication ou aliénation?, in: More than Zero, Magasin - Centre National d'Art Contemporain, Grenoble, 1993

bio



I close my eyes
by Dorothea Strauss, 1997
from: “(O.m.U.)“, catalogue, Neuer Berliner Kunstverein, Berlin 1997

I close my eyes - dear Daniela - and try to concentrate. Last night I tucked your catalogues under my pillow, and whilst I was going off to sleep I thought a little more about malice and robbers ... when I woke up this morning, the text was already lying, written and neatly copied, on the table ... models and robbers in Wonderland ... thank you for your parcel. And most of all for your notes; they are already so good, you could even use them for your catalogue; somewhat enigmatic, but certainly informative.
You have sent me lots of material about your various groups of work, and at the moment it seems my thoughts are floating away from me. So I'll just swim after them first, OK?

“Lost Highway“, David Lynch in conversation: “Everyone has had this experience: you are together with a few people and you act in a particular way. Then you meet others and behave in a way you would never have thought possible. We are capable of many things which our present personality would never permit. There are many different people within us.“

Double Drawings. In some works, the shifts in reality are only minimal; simple situations taken from life are placed on top of each other quite undramatically. Brief moments in a banal course of events, apparently detached from everyday occurrences which themselves remain anonymous. By contrast, the content of other Double Drawings is highly charged; for example the one in which both people are pointing pistols at each other. Using simple formal means, conflicts between the sexes and the generations, the inner conflict and the moment of threat in this work narrate a complex story. No unity emerges in the whole, but rather a close, dependent relation between different modes of questioning reality. In this work, the people's anonymity graduates into an individual perspective regarding the question of which reality is our own personal reality.

Being under threat is an important theme in your work. Desire, too. And both are reflected in a very up-to-date way in your photographic works, for example, which are based on press photos from daily papers and magazines. Storyboards. Lost images rescued from the flood.... “a bottle of perfume, the corpse of a Chechen soldier who bled to death, the made-up face of a model, the first atomic bomb, the latest Mercedes …“; Where is the beginning and where is the end of such picture series; is there a hierarchy, is there a moral in the order? You describe it precisely in your notes: Those images which appear to have been mercilessly juxtaposed in the media are mirrored by the simultaneity of contrasting realities in a country, in a city, in a home or in a person; a coexistence of contrasting energies in a desire for violence and a longing for tenderness.
The threatening thing is that there is hardly any liberation from these bonds. The desire for empty places, for free space ultimately leads to indifference as a protective attitude. A vast amount of “pictorial material“; rushes past us in the media, the details are lost; for the uninvolved viewer, a passive role emerges - he in turn acts within his own personal structures of violence, and is also the victim of these.
Your photographic works are not only concerned with the simultaneity of disparate realities in our lives and the power structures resulting from them, but also with the question of whether it is possible to develop individually verifiable criteria from this flood of images.

With regard to this, here is another aspect raised by Jean Baudrillard in „The Transparency of Evil“: “If one was anxious to give a name to the present state of affairs, then I would say we are experiencing the period after the orgy. The orgy is the explosive moment of the modern age, the moment of liberation in every field. Political liberation, sexual liberation, the release of destructive powers, liberation of women, of children, of subconscious drives, the liberation of art. Ostentatious parading of all the models of representation and anti-representation. It was a total orgy of the real, the rational, the sexual, the critical and the anti-critical, of growth and the growth crisis. We followed every route to the production and virtual over-production of objects, signs, messages, ideologies and pleasures. Today everything has been liberated, the game is over, and together we face the decisive question: what ever shall we do now the orgy is over? Today we can only simulate the orgy and liberation, pretend that we are continuing to move more and more quickly in this direction, whilst in reality we are empty and confused, since all the targets of liberation have been left behind us ... (...) That is the state of simulation, in which we can only replay all the scenarios, since they have already taken place ... (...) That is the state of Utopia realised, the state of all realised Utopias, in which we must - paradoxically - continue to live as if they had not been realised. (…)“

In the drawings of “malice“ moments of violence and threat slip onto an ironical and very amusing level. The desire to be really malicious and cruel terrorises moral bonds, also signifying the enormous pleasure involved in the conceiving of stupid, silly practical jokes. The simplicity of the line-work intends speed in execution and thus a concealed-hidden atmosphere in which it seems that these drawings have been made “on the side“, secretly. A brief, unpleasant baring of teeth between two smiles. That is also a latent, quiet threat.

The motif of approaching the alien, the other, the indefinite by means of a ritualised activity - the malice can also be a ritual - is reflected again in your video work “Communication versus Alienation“. Four people of different nationalities each read a literary text in a language which is foreign to them. And because they are concentrating so hard on this, they give an impression of profound understanding. This is a perfidious game between assumption and knowledge and the question “How foreign does the foreign remain?“.
The searching question of self reappears frequently in all your works. The moments of presence or absence - for example in the “Absent Subjects“ - are not concerned with formal criteria of choice, but with an attentiveness to different active processes. Your works do not express the individual “… as a dramaturgist or an actor, but as a terminal into which numerous nets merge …“ (Baudrillard); the active field of being is declared the “palimpsest of the everyday …“. Identity reveals itself, not as the answer to the question “Who am I?“, but as an enigmatic encoding of the ambiguity of different levels of being and of action. There are no certainties. Is that a shame, or is it liberating? I shall choose the latter and secretly dream that it could be otherwise. Yours ever, Dorothea

I close my eyes
by Dorothea Strauss, 1997
from: “(O.m.U.)“, catalogue, Neuer Berliner Kunstverein, Berlin 1997