Born in Hollis, Queens in 1953, Simmons was the older brother of hip-hop entrepreneur Russell Simmons and rapper Joseph Simmons, known as Rev. Run in the trio Run DMC. In 1995, the three brothers founded the New York gallery Rush Arts (named after Russell's nickname) and the Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation, whose mission was to provide exhibitions, events, arts education, scholarships, and grants to underprivileged artists of color.
Artist, activist, philanthropist and community leader Daniel “Danny” Simmons has died at the age of 72. His family recently announced the death, but did not provide information on the location, date or cause.
Born in Hollis, Queens in 1953, Simmons was the older brother of hip-hop entrepreneur Russell Simmons and rapper Joseph Simmons, known as Rev. Run in the trio Run DMC. In 1995, the three brothers founded the New York gallery Rush Arts (named after Russell's nickname) and the Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation, whose mission was to provide exhibitions, events, art education, scholarships and grants to underprivileged artists of color. Simmons also founded the Corridor Gallery in his Brooklyn apartment. He moved to Philadelphia in 2015, where he founded another Rush Arts. Along with Russell, he created the HBO show Def Poetry Jam, which aired from 2002 to 2007. A Broadway production of the show won a Tony Award for Best Special Theatrical Event in 2003. Simmons also collected African art and comic books.
Simmons described his artistic style as “Neo-African Abstract Expressionism.” His works are in the collections of actor Will Smith and music industry executive and producer Lyor Cohen, as well as organizations and institutions such as Chase Manhattan Bank, the United Nations, and the Schomburg Center for Black Culture in New York. and the Smithsonian's African American Museum and Anacostia Community Museum.
The exhibition “Danny Simmons: The Journey to Everything” was shown at the Reginald F. Lewis Museum in Baltimore in 2024 and at the Houston Museum of African American Culture in 2025. In BMoreArt, Dora Marke wrote that Simmons “delivers a beautifully realized panegyric to ancestors we may not see but who take on materiality in and through us.” In 2009, Spanierman Gallery organized a 15-year retrospective of his work, and in the New York Times, Benjamin Genoccio wrote that the works “give shape to things,” adding: “Totemic and mythic imagery abounds, giving the best paintings visual force and a disturbing strangeness. Play and whimsy are also present, whether in the artist’s twisting lines or the bold color schemes.”
Simmons also published several books of prose, fiction, and poetry. In 2004, he published the novel Three Days As The Crow Flies, about the New York art scene in the 1980s, with Atria Books.
The New York Times called it “a warm homage to the mischievous fun of the good old days.” In 2007, he published I Dreamed My People Were Calling But I Couldn't Find My Way Home with Moore Black Press, illustrated with his own work. Artist Renee Cox praised it, saying, “The paintings are stunning, wildly imaginative, and set alongside street-language poetry that is so lyrical it made me feel like I was dancing inside the paintings.”
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In a 2017 interview with Griot, Simmons expressed his deep belief in art, saying, "Art saves lives. It's that simple."
(Taken from The Art News)
