Daniel Kukla’s artistic practice explores the fragile and fraught relationship that humans have with the natural world. He works in photography, video and installation to generate new questions about ecology and human nature. His unorthodox approach to the medium of photography enables him to create visual metaphors that allude to complex ecological, historical or social processes. Increasingly Kukla is interested in exploring how the decisions that we make everyday for our individual desires influence the prosperity of the Earth.

Kukla is a graduate of the International Center of Photography’s program in Documentary Photography and Photojournalism. Prior to his photographic education he attended the University of Toronto and received an Honours Bachelors of Science in Biology and Evolutionary Ecology. His work has been exhibited at Aperture Foundation, The International Center of Photography, The National Art Gallery of the Bahamas, RISD Museum of Art, Masin Museo de Art de Sinaloa, Williams College Museum of Art, among others. His work has been featured in the New Yorker Magazine, New York Times, Time Magazine, Wall Street Journal, Juxtapoz, Granta Magazine, Guernica Magazine, the Washington Post and others.

Selected Work

Education

2007-08 Documentary Photography and Photojournalism Program, International Center of Photography, New York, NY

Documentary Photography and Photojournalism Program, International Center of Photography, New York, NY 2002-07 Honors Bachelor of Science, University of Toronto, Majors in Evolutionary Ecology, Biology, and Evolutionary Human Anatomy

Selected Exhibitions

2019

Man-Eater,​ Open Circle Gallery, Brooklyn, NY

High Spark,​ YaPhoto, Yaounde, Cameroon

Under The Perfect Canopy​, Nagoya, Japan

Man Eater​, Space Place, Nigni Tagil, Russia

2018

Art Meets Science: Polar2018​, Davos, Switzerland

Hot Water​/PlasticoFantastico, National Art Gallery of the Bahamas, Nassau

Invisible Landscape,​ Stand 4 Gallery, Brooklyn, NY

2017

Summer Salon​, Gallery 1/1 Seattle, WA

Reflect​, Daniel Cooney Gallery, New York, NY

Phantasmagoria​, ​HopScotch,​ Local Projects, New York, NY

2016

Hot Topic​, Gallery 1/1 Seattle, WA

Glacial Rebound,​ Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Sweden

2015

Trazo Desconocido​, Pill Box Gallery, Mexico City, Mexico

HighSpark,​ EXIT​: Cartografía de la Creatividad, Museode Arte de Sinaloa, Culican, Mexico

2014

24 Mirrors in The Sun,​ installation piece, Governors Island Art Fair, New York, NY

High Spark,​ The Aperture Foundation, New York, NY

High Spark,​ Open Spaces Gallery, Santorini, Greece

The Fair Grounds​, Blog re-Blog, Austin Center for Photography, Austin, TX

2013

Edge Effect,​ Photofusion Photography Centre, London, UK

Edge Effect,​ Neubacher Shor Contemporary, Toronto, Canada

The Fair Grounds​, Blog re-Blog, Signal Gallery, Brooklyn, New York

Glacial Rebound,​ Visualized Truth, Ramybes Gallery, Palanga, Lithuania

2012

Captive Landscapes​, Hackney Picture House, London, UK

Edge Effect​, Looking at the Land, RISD Museum of Art, Rhode Island

Captive Landscapes​ (solo), Pictura Gallery, Bloomington, IN

Glacial Rebound,​ International Center of Photography, New York, NY

Edge Effect​, International Multimedia Art Festival, New Zero Art Space, Yangon, Myanmar

Alex​, The Center for Research and Education on Gender and Sexuality, San Francisco, CA

Glacial Rebound,​ Siauliai Art Gallery, Siauliai, Lithuania

Cold Traveling​, Garland and Ford Contemporary Photography, Toronto, Canada

Captive Landscapes​ (solo), SRO Gallery, Lubbock, TX

2011

Glacial Rebound,​ Milk Gallery, New York, NY

Captive Landscapes​, BLOWUP! Angkor Photo Festival, Siem Reap, Cambodia

El Altiplano,​ Nature Within, ISE Cultural Foundation, New York, NY

Captive Landscapes​ ASA Collective, NOMAD Gallery, London, UK

Emergence​, Wa Projects 25 Central Park West Gallery, New York, NY

Alex​, for The Kinsey Institute for Sex, Gender, and Reproduction at the SoFA Gallery, Bloomington, IN

The Fairgrounds,​ Kuala Lumpur Photo Awards, White Box Gallery, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

2010

Oil Palm​, with Magnum Foundation, 25 Central Park West Gallery, New York, NY

Captive Landscapes​, 2902 Gallery, Singapore International Photography Festival

Nature Within​, 25 Central Park West Gallery, New York, NY

What We Saw: Dialects,​ International Center of Photography, New York, NY

2009

Re-Visioning Transport,​ permanent photo installation, NYC Dept. of Transportation HQ New York, NY

2008

What We Saw,​ Pingyao Photography Festival, Pingyao, China

Reflections,​ International Center of Photography, New York, NY

2007

Plates on Bowls​, Installation, Nuit Blanche, Toronto, Canada

Selected Publications

2017

Artist Feature, Artron China

Field Notes from the Brazilian Amazon,​ New Yorker Magazine, Instagram Takeover, December/January

2015

Artist Feature, ​Discover the New Topography of Landscape​, Time Magazine LightBox

Coal Trains,​ High Country News

High Spark,​ Wired Magazine

Artist Feature, Voyage Into Ice​, U​niversity of Toronto Magazine, winter issue

2014

Edge Effect, Lenscratch

Photographers, Scientists for Climate Change, ​Wall Street Journal

Artist Feature, FLOAT Magazine, Issue 1

Captive Landscapes​, Wired Magazine

Edge Effect​, Feature Shoo​t

2013

Edge Effect​, It's Nice That Annual

Edge Effect​, Magenta Flash Forward 2013 Catalogue

Edge Effect,​ Raise Magazine

2012

Artist Residency Feature, PDN Magazine

Artist Feature, ​Looking at the Land From the Comfort of Home,​ Time Magazine LightBox

Captive Landscapes​, Huffington Post

Edge Effect​, Juxtapoz Magazine

Edge Effect​, Esquire, Russia

Edge Effect​, The Daily Mail, UK

Edge Effect​, Spiegel, Germany

Edge Effect​, La Repubblica, Italy

Edge Effect​, Baumeister Magazine, Germany

Edge Effect​, Guernica Magazine

Glacial Rebound,​ Planet Magazine

Edge Effect​, American Photo

Edge Effect​, New York Times Len’s Blog

Captive Landscapes​, PowerHouse Blog

Captive Landscapes​, Hunger Magazine

Edge Effect​, UA Magazine

Captive Landscapes​, Troika Editions, UK

Captive Landscapes​, Feature Shoot

Edge Effect​, Los Angeles Camera Club

Captive Landscapes​, Planet Magazine

2011

Captive Landscapes​, featured artist Cohabitaire by Ingrid Schroder

2010

Captive Landscapes​, featured artist, On Earth Magazine

Captive Landscapes​, Holding places by Emily Carter, Culture Hall

Oil Palm​, Borneo, series featured in Discover Magazine

Lamina​, featured in Entasis Literary Magazine, Vol. 1

Alex​, featured on National Public Radio’s program on Latina Suicide

The Fairgrounds​, featured in University of Toronto Magazine

Awards and Honors

Rockefeller Brothers Grant for Art Meets Science at Polar 2018, Davos, Switzerland

Finalist, Smithsonian Artist Research Fellowship, 2016

Rockefeller Brothers Grant for work relating to climate change, 2014

Winner of Magenta Foundation Flash Forward Exchange, 2013

Finalist for Terry O'Neill Award, 2013

Finalist for Hyeres Photography Festival, 2012

Descubrimientos PHE, PhotoEspana, Madrid, Spain, 2010

Artist Residencies

BOXO Projects, Joshua Tree National Park, CA, October 2017

Artist In Residence, Saguaro National Park, AZ, February 2017

LabVerde, Brazilian Amazon, September 2016

The Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA), North Adams, MA, January 2016

Rockefeller Brothers Fund at the Pocantico Estate, Sleepy Hollow, NY, July/August 2015

Plastic(o) Fantastic(o) artist collective invitation for residency, Rio de Janiero, Brazil, May 2015

Anderson Ranch Arts Center, Aspen/Snowmass, Colorado, June 2015

The Arctic Circle Residency, Svalbard, Norway, October 2014

The Fountainhead Residency, Miami, FL, September 2014

Artist in Residence at Joshua Tree National Park, CA, March 2012

Collections

Williams College Museum of Art

The Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction

NYC Department of Transportation

United States National Park Service: Joshua Tree NP & Saguaro NP

Numerous private collections

Teaching Experience