Biography

Daniel "Attaboy" Seifert

Artist, curator and author

With a commitment to creating and curating surprising forms of visual art, Daniel “Attaboy” Seifert has forged a varied career, often fusing subversion with disconcerting whimsy.

Atta’s recent installation “The Cradle of Life”, for example, is an interactive art installation depicting a decomposing but vibrant-with-life throne which sits two rulers. Participants sit and rock side to side, creating a pleasant rocking motion akin to a newborn in a crib. Other works include sculptural paintings on levels of layered wood, which investigate themes of death, decomposition and rebirth.

Attaboy’s work has been seen in books, magazines, galleries, museums, television and many designer stores. His influences include Alexander Calder, Maurice Nobel, Eyvinde Earle, Dr. Seuss, and the futurist Syd Mead.

In June 2019, Seifert inadvertently created an international underground holiday; his one day Game of Shrooms Shroomdrop scavenger hunt led 100’s of artists across the world to create and hide original art work for collectors (and the unassuming) to find. Artists and gatherers from Hong Kong, Berlin, Japan, the UK, India, Russia, Switzerland, the US, and many more participated in the world-wide event, creating a world-wide non-religious, no cost, political-free interactive “art show” of making and sharing. The event spread viral on Instagram (See the hashtag #gameofshrooms for some of the results) and is set to be repeated on June 13th, 2020.

In 2005 artists Annie Owens and Attaboy co-founded Hi-Fructose magazine, which has become a best selling art magazine with a global reach. In 2009, in order to better define the scope of the magazine, New Contemporary Art was added to the masthead. Since, the term has been adopted by many galleries, museums and artists.

Hi-Fructose: The New Contemporary Art Magazine was honored with a ten year retrospective titled “Turn the Page: The First Ten Years of Hi-Fructose“, which premiered at the Virginia MOCA, and travelled to the Akron Museum of Art and the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento, CA. The publication has spawned a popular series of hardcover books, elaborately designed box sets, curated shows, and a recent Hi-Fructose hardcover distributed by Abrams books focused on New Contemporary Fashion.

Atta has done numerous talks and presentations at art schools, companies, book stores, museums and galleries, Topics have included discussing his creative process, his former career as a toy designer, his children’s books, his partnership with Annie Owens, creating concepts from scratch and finding inspiration in unlikely places.

Atta and Annie live in Richmond. California with their pug Donut and Ripley the one-eyed wonder dog.

Recent notable exhibitions include:

June 2019: “Surreal Sublime: group exhibition at the San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art.
May 2019: “Undergrowth”: solo exhibition at Gallery 30 South in Pasadena. January 2018: 30’installation at the LA Art show
October 2018: The Art of the Mushroom: group show curated by Attaboy.
December, 2017: “Grow in the Dark”: solo exhibition at Corey Helford Gallery, Los Angeles.
July 2015: “The Art of Toys: A Left Coast Retrospective” at the Museum of Art and History, Lancaster, CA: group exhibition

Contact info

Atta’s work is shown at several galleries and museums, to inquire about availability of a piece, commission an installation or work, or get on a collector’s list, please email here

To inquire about books Daniel “Attaboy” Seifert for a talk or reading, please email here.

For entertainment licensing, Attaboy is represented by The Gotham Group in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles.