"There's science in Ranalli's art as well—the science of instruction, of one kind of teacher recognizing the artistry of his colleagues, no matter what the field. Ranalli has altered his photos with computer software to create these collages, giving a semblance of order and elegance to a readymade world of otherwise unrelated imagery."
Shawn Hill
Art New England, Daniel Ranalli: Chalkboards
June-July 2009
"[Ranalli's] chalkboards reveal more information than I could have imagined. Erasures evoke the marks of a paintbrush. Bits of scrawl chatter and squirm. Complete words or equations grab attention like magnets. Then there's the surprising element of color - who knew there were so many shades of green and gray? Ranalli has even altered one to look gold. In all, these works consider space, mark-making, and color in a distinctly painterly manner."
"Ranalli particularly interweaves sensibilities culled from a simultaneously rising consciousness of other cultures. His sensitive, ephemeral work integrates bits of the British 'walkers' Richard Long and Amish Fulton, the British artist Andy Goldsworthy's delicate site constructions, native American reverence for natural objects, Zen-like collaborations with natural forces, and John Cage's riffs on randomness. Underlying these elements is a solid appreciation for accessible formal constructs, still the portal through which most viewers most readily pass."
Ann Wilson Lloyd
Exhibition Catalog Essay, Daniel Ranalli: Projects + Photographs
December 1993
"Kelp Pyramid". Gelatin silver print, 10" x 10"
"The achingly vivid color photos capture a moment of perfect harmony that a breeze will sweep away."
Cate McQuaid
The Boston Globe, Arts Gallery Pick
August 2006
"Minimally rearranging materials he encounters on his walks through this volatile landscape, Ranalli creates a push-pull with nature as he then watches his manipulations succumb to the relentless forces of change."
Elli Crocker
Curator's Statement, Daniel Ranalli | Asian Work
September - November 2003
"Single Buddha #3". Photogram
"Although he continues to seek to uncover the relationships between humans and nature, found and altered landscapes, and the effects of chaos on momentarily imposed order, [Ranalli's] works are infused with peace and tranquility."
Leon Nigrosh
artsMEDIA, A Mystic's Art
November 2003
"The works of Dan Ranalli... despite their imposed order and structure, ultimately transmit the absolute truth: Everything changes, moment to moment."
Marina Veronica
artsMEDIA, Natural Obsession
July 2005
"'Zen Dune Garden' is the gentlest work by this artist that I've seen, showing man's footprint on the earth as a collaboration with nature, not nature's enemy."
Cate McQuaid
The Boston Globe, Meditating on Eastern Disciplines in Provincetown
August 15, 2003
"Ranalli's objective is akin to the credo of the 1950s abstract expressionist painters: effecting a spiritual rejuvenation in the beholder of the art."
Gerald Perry
Boston Magazine, Boston Photography
December 1983
"On the formal level, Ranalli acts like a 19th-century gentleman scientist, arranging materials, photographing them in straightforward style, mostly in black and white, and writing labels for them with his own hand. In content, though, the work is poetic, elegiac."
"As it is, they compliment each other. Where Ranalli is edgy and provocative, Vevers is reflective and deep. And each knows what is to have a passion for making things that express the subtle, fleeting dilemmas that grace a human soul."
Cate McQuaid
The Boston Globe, A Creative Pairing On and Off Cape
August 12, 1999