Daniel Banko descends the stairs from Nathaniel Hughson Gallery’s cavernous second floor to hang a newly selected 6’x6’ painting against the open-bricked wall. "We stage art all the time for clients," he states.
Daniel's artistic training as a commercial photographer is clearly evident in the styling of the gallery he's owned since 2013. The calculated simplicity of the gallery's openness, clean lines, brightly lit space and open walls serves as a backdrop to promote the ever-evolving nature and variety of Canadian art that passes the gallery’s threshold. This includes Daniel's own artwork as well as works by Erin Vincent, Dave Hind, Ryan Price and Stephanie Vegh. Daniel, himself a graduate with an art degree specializing in Fine Arts from McMaster University, is a curating partner of the gallery and sits on the Art Gallery of Hamilton Board of Directors.
The style of Nathaniel Hughson Gallery is ever evolving as it finds new mediums and new techniques – both of which Daniel welcomes. Contemporary art, as Daniel defines, is ultimately about seeing art as it is made and occurs. It is about how "art blends, recharges and finds new sources of inspiration," he explains. Canadian contemporary art is art that should engage dialogue.