Reports are rolling in from across the internet that artist Dash Snow died from a heroin overdose Monday night at Lafayette House hotel in New York. Gawker broke the story, citing a Twitter post from Snow comrade Earsnot, a.k.a. Kunle Ira, as well as several confirmations from friends. Snow’s grandmother, Christophe de Menil — a major art collector in her own right — confirmed the news to the New York Times ArtsBeat blog, adding that he had been trying to stay clean following a rehab stay in March.
Dash Snow was a mythic presence on the New York art contemporary art scene: collaborating with fellow artists Dan Colen and Ryan McGinley (their relationship the subject of a remarkable profile by Ariel Levy for New York magazine), shooting to fame with controversial collage pieces covered in semen, the legend of a thousand tales of Lower East Side debauchery. His work was decried by critics, a smash with collectors, and perfectly synced to the hubris of the pre-recession art world. Love Dash Snow or hate him, but his legacy as the boundary-pushing artist who died young will unquestionably live on.
His current representative, Peres Projects in Los Angeles and Berlin, has yet to release a comment on the news of Snow’s death; a thorough listing of the artist’s work and exhibitions is available on the gallery’s website.
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