Feature Image: Neptune (2004-05) – Marcel Dzama

by Meiling Kubik

 

Marcel Dzama is a contemporary artist who was born in Winnipeg, Canada in 1974. Growing up he often made books of his drawings, taking inspiration from his own experiences and global events. He later helped found The Royal Art Lodge, a collaborative group of artists made up of himself and friends in 1996 and received his BFA from the University of Manitoba in 1997. He now lives with his wife and son in New York City.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dzama has become largely known for his small scale drawings, but has expanded his works in mediums of sculpture, diorama, collage, and film. In all his pieces, one can clearly see the shadow of artistic movements like Dada and Surrealism that have impact in Dzama’s style, as well as, the influence of artists he cites as sources of inspiration like Picabia, Duchamp, and Goya.

Dzama’s work may remind the viewer of children’s illustrations in style, but in content his thematic approach combines depictions of twentieth century conflict and the social issues of today into loose narratives. In an interview with Lines & Marks, Dzama describes his process as “making up my own mythology around trying to explain humanity.” Dzama takes direct influence from current events that tend to stir emotion or controversy; his works often depict violent, sexual, and surreal portrayals of his own processing of these events. He explains that “if it’s something that’s disturbing my conscience then I need to just get it out. Especially events like the Iraq War or the Sandy Hook Shooting or even now with police shooting unarmed black kids. It’s hard to not have that in the back of your head, even if you’re working on some strange drawing. Reality kind of gets in there” (Lines & Marks). Dzama’s work often contains masked characters and so called monsters that serve as symbols depending on the piece’s context. A common narrative that is signified in his work is the display of a monster being abused by those the viewer would usually assume were protagonists just from their superficial appearances. He attempts “to twist it around where the most innocent looking characters are doing the most damage, whereas the big, supposed-to-be scary characters are usually the one’s being beheaded or something” (Lines & Marks).

With his growing scope of work, Dzama has entered into the world of pop culture as he has collaborated with artists like Arcade Fire and his art has been featured on the albums of artists like Beck and They Might Be Giants. His characters and costume designs enter other mediums like Jay-Z’s music video for Picasso Baby and Bob Dylan’s When The Deal Goes Down. One of Dzama’s latest projects is his collaboration with the New York City Ballet as costume and set designer for their new adaptation of Hans Christian Anderson’s The Most Incredible Thing that premiered February 2, 2016.

Sites:

Link to drawings

Link to video list containing some of Dzama’s collaborations and films

Sources:

“Marcel Dzama: A Wonderfully Twisted World.” Interview by Romeo Alaeff. Lines & Marks. N.p., June 2015. Web. 26 Mar. 2016. <http://linesandmarks.com/interviews/marcel-dzama-interview/&gt;

Hoby, Hermione. “Cult Artist Marcel Dzama: ‘I Try Not to Censor Myself'” The Guardian. Guardian News and Media Limited, 2 Apr. 2013. Web. 28 Mar. 2016. <http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2013/apr/02/artist-marcel-dzama-censor-myself&gt;.

*All works on this blog are by the artist Marcel Dzama