Jerry McDaniel

Biography

McDaniel was born during the Great Depression on a farm called The Jake White Place on Rabbit Ridge near Zaleski, in Vinton County, Ohio. His father Hoyt Glenn (Ben), a 25-year-old cattle farmer, married Lillian, age 16, in West Virginia three months before Jerry was born. At the beginning of World War II, McDaniel's father, fearing the draft, sold all the livestock and moved the family to Athens, Ohio. After his father died in 1951, his mother moved the family to Logan, Ohio to find employment.

Jerry was a Boy Scout of Troop 154, Union Furnace, OH and was advanced to the rank of Eagle Scout in 1951. Then he received the Outstanding National Boy Scout Award. He started drawing and painting when he was 5 years old encouraged by his parents who had little education. His mother Lillien was an amateur artist. He soon became the artist of the local area. In his senior High School year Jerry was an apprentice manager at J. C. Penny in Logan, OH. The high school art teacher, recognizing his talent, and knowing that he has no money to go to school was the one to make him aware of a scholarship, guide him to prepare a portfolio, and actually drove to Columbus to file Jerry's portfolio. Today Jerry brings his contribution to the Brighten Your Future (BYF) organization (established in 1988) to assist Logan High School graduates in continuing their education by providing financial assistance based on need. McDaniel earned a scholarship to the Columbus College of Art and Design (CCAD). He worked his way through College as a mapmaker for the Ohio State Department of Hydrology. Jerry W. McDaniel is acknowledged by CCAD as one of their notable alumni who played a leadership role in industry. Jerry McDaniel was the first alumnus of CCAD to be offered the Award for Excellence (then called "Award for Outstanding Alumnus"), in 1982. He graduated from CCAD twice, once with a Professional Certificate in 1957 (when the school was called "Columbus Art School") and then with a BFA in 1972 (CCAD).

Moving to New York in July 1957, he worked as a package designer for Continental Can Corporation. McDaniel's first work appeared in Redbook magazine in September 1957. The long-time Dean/President of CCAD, Joseph V. Canzani, was carrying this drawing by McDaniel in his wallet and was showing it to everyone saying "Look what our kids are doing." After military service as a Spec 9 architect, McDaniel returned to New York, becoming a graphic designer/art director for the LW Froehlich Company, a large pharmaceutical advertising agency.

In the summer of 1961, Saul Bass's East Coast agent, Lester Rosin Creative Group, became McDaniel's agent. McDaniel's first commission was a national campaign for Pan Am Airlines. This work appeared full-page every Monday in the New York Times for 52 consecutive weeks, followed by 300 drawings in three months for Intercontinental Hotels, which ran worldwide for three years.

In 1963, he enrolled in the Experimental Workshop at the New School for Social Research (NSSR) taught by Italian artist, and American artist Henry C. Pearson. In 1965, he chaired the Illustrators Annual Show, Society of Illustrators and in 1966 he created the two Harlow's posters, for the 1st discothèque in the world, with the influence of the workshop at the NSSR.

In 1994 Jerry W. McDaniel became Chair of the "Advertising Design Department" (now called "Communication Design Department", FIT/SUNY. He earned an MA in Computer Communication Art from the New York Institute of Technology (NYIT) in 1987. He is a member of The New York Society of Illustrators (SI), Broadcast Designers Association (BDA), The American Institute of graphic Design (AIGA), and The Graphic Artist Guild (GAG). McDaniel's work has been published in many books including "The Illustrator in America" and "Icons and Images."

In 1967, NBC requested paintings from the US Air Force Collection to air during the launching of the Apollo 11 mission. Jerry McDaniel has six paintings in the NBC selected five pieces, one of which was Jerry's "Dawn of the Day." The painting was seen on national and international television for 32 minutes of airtime on the Today Show for the Apollo 11 Space Launch.

In 1970, McDaniel was a founding member of the Advertising Design Department at the Fashion Institute of Technology, teaching graphic design at the New York Institute of Technology and lecturing at the Rhode Island School of Design, the School of Visual Arts, the Columbus College of Art and Design, and the Maryland Institute of Art and Design.

In the late 1960s, McDaniel designed and illustrated the complete Zane Grey Western Series for Simon & Schuster, and also created book covers for the S. S. Van Dine "Murder Mystery" series for three different publishers, including Charles Scribner's Sons's over a ten-year period.

Jerry W. McDaniel also created award-winning posters. As the MCCAA Tennis Champion for 1971-72 he was afforded the opportunity to work as a Sports Artist and Designer for Philip Morris. He worked with the famous Spanish tennis player Manolo Santana. For over 25 years Mr. McDaniel was commissioned to created sports promotions in South America and Iberia: posters for tennis, Grand Prix racing, horse racing, motor cross, bicycling, and others. In the late 60s he created two Harlow's posters for the 1st discothèque in New York with the same name. Today these posters are in the permanent collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum.

In 1971 Anita Grien became McDaniel's agent for the next three decades.

In 1991 he was commissioned to design and illustrate a poster for the Union's Labor March on Washington, August 31, 1991. The Union created a limited edition of 200 signed-by-the artist prints of Jerry W. McDaniel's "Solidarity Works: Solidarity Day '91" poster. An official AFL-CIO special-run artist-signed copy of this print is in the University of Missouri St. Louis Art Collection - "The Bruce & Barbara Feldacker Labor Art Collection", and the Special Collections of the Frostburg State University, Frostburg, MD. McDaniel has also conceived and produced short films and film titles, among them the film ICE (Idea, Composition, and Execution) and the film titles for The Bolshoi at The Bolshoi.

In 2008, the New York Society of Illustrators commemorated the 50th anniversary of their Annual Show by publishing a book entitled Icons and Images: 50 Years of Illustration, containing 500 of the 25,000 illustrations from the Society's Annuals. McDaniel's 1972 Grand Prix Philip Morris International large black & white Harlow's poster was among those selected.

The abstract art works of McDaniel are in public and private collections around the world. He participated at numerous group shows, and had solo shows in New York, Los Angeles, Palm Springs, California, and Paris, France. In recent years his work was shown in Düsseldorf, Germany, Bucharest, Romania, and he had solo shows in Beverly Hills, California (2012), and the "LOOK AT ME" exhibition at the Valley Performing Arts Center (VPAC) of California State University, Northridge (CSUN), 18 September-22 October 2013. He is represented by I. C. ART Gallery, Encino, California.

Among his recent achievements he illustrated poems by two well-known Romanian poets, Lucian Blaga and Ana Blandiana; created several videos with about his art; designed posters and promotional graphics for the (AOI) Art of Innovation Conference (2013 & 2014, CSUN); banners for non-profit California organizations (2014 & 2016); the cover of the Art Volume and the design for the poster of "Salon ARTIS 2010", and was a member in the Awards Jury for Best Cinematography at SEEfest (South East European Film Festival), Los Angeles, CA, 2015.

Family life

In 1962, he met and married Renata Buss, a model and former "Miss Berlin". They had two children, a son, Teja, who currently lives with his family in Melbourne, Australia; and a daughter, Saskia, who died in 1999. McDaniel has two grandsons from his son Teja, Tristan and Liam.

After separating from his wife and living several years in New York and Greenwich, Connecticut, McDaniel moved out west in 2004 to Los Angeles, where JW McDaniel Studios was re-located and currently operates in Encino, California. He does illustrations and promotional work, and abstract expressionist art. He also has a studio in Palm Springs, CA and Montparnasse-Paris, France where he spends a few months per year.

Selected collections

McDaniel's works are in numerous collections:

Solo Shows

Group shows