
Simon Denny was born in 1982 in Auckland, New Zealand and now lives and works in Berlin. He makes exhibitions and projects that unpack the stories technologists tell us about the world using a variety of media including installation, sculpture, print, painting, video, and NFTs. Denny studied at the Elam School of Fine Arts, University of Auckland and at the Städelschule, Frankfurt. In 2023, the Kunstverein Hannover and the Frans Masereel Centrum in Kasterlee, Belgium will exhibit his Metaverse Landscape paintings.
Denny represented New Zealand at the 56th Venice Biennale in 2015 and has had one-person shows at the Heidelberger Kunstverein, Heidelberg, Germany (2022); Gus Fisher Gallery at the University of Auckland, New Zealand (2021); K21–Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf (2020); Museum of Old and New Art, Hobart, Australia (2019); Museum of Contemporary Art, Cleveland (2018); OCAT, Shenzhen, China (2017); Hammer Museum, Los Angeles (2017); WIELS Contemporary Art Centre, Brussels (2016); Serpentine Galleries, London (2015); MoMA PS1, Long Island City, New York (2015); Portikus, Frankfurt (2014); mumok - Museum moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien, Vienna (2013); and the Kunstverein Munich (2013) among others. Denny has also curated significant exhibitions about blockchain and art such as Proof of Stake at Kunstverein in Hamburg (2021) and Proof of Work at Schinkel Pavillon, Berlin (2018). His works are included in the collections of the Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg; Kunsthaus Zürich; Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf; Museum of Modern Art, New York; Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington; Sammlung zeitgenössischer Kunst der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Berlin; and Walker Art Center, Minneapolis among others. He co-founded the artist mentoring program BPA//Berlin Program for Artists and serves as a Professor of Time-Based Media at the HFBK (University of Fine Arts) Hamburg.
Simon Denny
Philips CD Interactive Peacekeeper Revolver Packaging Reproduction
2013
Silkscreen on cardboard
9.45 x 11.42 x 2.36 inches
24 x 29 x 6 cm
Simon Denny
“Formalised Org Chart/ Architectural Model: GCHQ 3 Agile/Holacracy Workspace”
2015
Laser cut Plexiglas, UV print on Plexiglas, PC-3M paint marker, book Why
work sucks and how to fix it, book The Happy Manifesto, book Peopleware,
plush toy alligator, UV print on Revostage platform, powder coated steel
82.68 x 78.74 x 39.37 inches
210 x 200 x 100 cm
Simon Denny
Analoque/Digital Transmission Switchover: Italy, II Digitale (extra) Terrestre
2012
Samsung 37UD 6500 3D, metal, stained MDF, screenprint on plexiglass, rubber masks, Alien figurine, USB decoder
26.75 x 47.25 x 3.875 inches
67.9 x 120 x 9.8 cm
Simon Denny
Multimedia Double Canvas progression
2009
inkjet print on canvas, metal fittings, pedestal
Dimensions Vary
Simon Denny
Berlin Startup Case Mod: Rocket Internet
2014
Custom computer case, packaging, heavy-duty computer hardware, digital
prints on plexiglass, custom plexiglass components, metal fittings, Samsung
UE40F6500 SS, video on USB stick, and custom spider computer case
42 1/8 x 36 5/8 x 21 5/8" (107 x 93 x 55 cm) and
30 11/16 x 31 1/2 x 12 3/16" (78 x 80 x 31 cm)
Multimedia Double Canvas progression, 2009 Inkjet prints on canvas, metal fittings, pedestals Julia Stoschek Collection, Düsseldorf
Formalised Org Chart/ Architectural Model: GCHQ 3 Agile/Holacracy Workspace, 2015
Mixed media installation
Rubell Museum, Miami
All You Need Is Data – The DLD 2012 Conference REDUX, 2014, Auckland Art Gallery
Detail of Modded Server-Rack Display with Some Interpretations of David Darchicourt Designs for NSA Defense Intelligence, 2015
Disruptive Berlin, 2014, Galerie Buchholz, Berlin
Secret Power, 2005, New Zealand Pavilion at the Biblioteca Nationale Marciana, 56th Venice Biennale
Mine, 2019-2020, Mona, Museum of Old and New Art, Hobart, Australia
Formalised Org Chart/ Architectural Model: Zappos 2, 2015
Proof of Stake - Technological Claims, 2021, Kunstverein in Hamburg
Blockchain Future States, 2016, Petzel, New York