MARCEL DZAMA "EVOLUTION OF MAN" WATERCOLOR, 1997
With his unmistakable version of contemporary Surrealism, as comical as it is otherworldly, Marcel Dzama is one of Canada's most internationally successful artists.
Dzama's works are instantly recognizable for their subject and style. He draws as much from the visual language of folk art as he does from the art historical, offering images that dance right on the edge of familiarity.
As with most of Dzama's work, this image presents viewers with visual information but no clear explanation of what is occurring. A golden cross-section of earth anchors the composition, with a burrowed tunnel at its core. At the bottom of the tunnel lies an anthropomorphized caterpillar, its long, green body topped with a human face. In front of the critter leaps a cat-like animal, striped and smiling sinisterly. Stuck in the tunnel from the knees down, there is a man. He bends over slightly as fumes emanate from his head.
While this sense of a curious incomplete may seem limiting, it's actually one of the most compelling aspects of Dzama's oeuvre. Evoking the same effects as incomplete storyboards or figurative Rorschach tests, his carefully composed images invite viewers to engage imaginatively--encouraging them to weave together the "befores" and "afters" that surround the "nows" that each piece offers.
Born in Winnipeg in 1974, Dzama would begin exhibiting internationally just a year after graduating from the University of Manitoba with early champions of his work including Jim Carrey and Nicholas Cage. In the 1990's, as one of the founding members of the Royal Art Lodge, Dzama contributed to the renaissance of figurative art and simultaneously put Winnipeg on the map as a center for Canadian creativity.
Dzama's work can be found in a host of prestigious public and private collections including Paris' Centre Georges Pompidou, The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the MoMA, Le Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal. He is particularly favored by celebrity collectors including Brad Pitt, Jim Carrey and Steve Martin.
Questions about this artwork? Email us, call +1.416.704.1720, or visit our Toronto gallery.
Untitled (Evolution of Man)
Canada, c. 1997/98
Ink and mixed-media on paper
Signed by the artist
12.5"H & 10"W (sheet)
14.5"H 12"W (framed)
Very good condition.
Note: This work is from Dzama's first show in LA at Richard Heller Gallery in 1998, consisting of 500 drawings of this size and style.
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MARCEL DZAMA "EVOLUTION OF MAN" WATERCOLOR, 1997
With his unmistakable version of contemporary Surrealism, as comical as it is otherworldly, Marcel Dzama is one of Canada's most internationally successful artists.
Dzama's works are instantly recognizable for their subject and style. He draws as much from the visual language of folk art as he does from the art historical, offering images that dance right on the edge of familiarity.
As with most of Dzama's work, this image presents viewers with visual information but no clear explanation of what is occurring. A golden cross-section of earth anchors the composition, with a burrowed tunnel at its core. At the bottom of the tunnel lies an anthropomorphized caterpillar, its long, green body topped with a human face. In front of the critter leaps a cat-like animal, striped and smiling sinisterly. Stuck in the tunnel from the knees down, there is a man. He bends over slightly as fumes emanate from his head.
While this sense of a curious incomplete may seem limiting, it's actually one of the most compelling aspects of Dzama's oeuvre. Evoking the same effects as incomplete storyboards or figurative Rorschach tests, his carefully composed images invite viewers to engage imaginatively--encouraging them to weave together the "befores" and "afters" that surround the "nows" that each piece offers.
Born in Winnipeg in 1974, Dzama would begin exhibiting internationally just a year after graduating from the University of Manitoba with early champions of his work including Jim Carrey and Nicholas Cage. In the 1990's, as one of the founding members of the Royal Art Lodge, Dzama contributed to the renaissance of figurative art and simultaneously put Winnipeg on the map as a center for Canadian creativity.
Dzama's work can be found in a host of prestigious public and private collections including Paris' Centre Georges Pompidou, The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the MoMA, Le Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal. He is particularly favored by celebrity collectors including Brad Pitt, Jim Carrey and Steve Martin.
Questions about this artwork? Email us, call +1.416.704.1720, or visit our Toronto gallery.
Untitled (Evolution of Man)
Canada, c. 1997/98
Ink and mixed-media on paper
Signed by the artist
12.5"H & 10"W (sheet)
14.5"H 12"W (framed)
Very good condition.
Note: This work is from Dzama's first show in LA at Richard Heller Gallery in 1998, consisting of 500 drawings of this size and style.
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With his unmistakable version of contemporary Surrealism, as comical as it is otherworldly, Marcel Dzama is one of Canada's most internationally successful artists.
Dzama's works are instantly recognizable for their subject and style. He draws as much from the visual language of folk art as he does from the art historical, offering images that dance right on the edge of familiarity.
As with most of Dzama's work, this image presents viewers with visual information but no clear explanation of what is occurring. A golden cross-section of earth anchors the composition, with a burrowed tunnel at its core. At the bottom of the tunnel lies an anthropomorphized caterpillar, its long, green body topped with a human face. In front of the critter leaps a cat-like animal, striped and smiling sinisterly. Stuck in the tunnel from the knees down, there is a man. He bends over slightly as fumes emanate from his head.
While this sense of a curious incomplete may seem limiting, it's actually one of the most compelling aspects of Dzama's oeuvre. Evoking the same effects as incomplete storyboards or figurative Rorschach tests, his carefully composed images invite viewers to engage imaginatively--encouraging them to weave together the "befores" and "afters" that surround the "nows" that each piece offers.
Born in Winnipeg in 1974, Dzama would begin exhibiting internationally just a year after graduating from the University of Manitoba with early champions of his work including Jim Carrey and Nicholas Cage. In the 1990's, as one of the founding members of the Royal Art Lodge, Dzama contributed to the renaissance of figurative art and simultaneously put Winnipeg on the map as a center for Canadian creativity.
Dzama's work can be found in a host of prestigious public and private collections including Paris' Centre Georges Pompidou, The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the MoMA, Le Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal. He is particularly favored by celebrity collectors including Brad Pitt, Jim Carrey and Steve Martin.
Questions about this artwork? Email us, call +1.416.704.1720, or visit our Toronto gallery.
Untitled (Evolution of Man)
Canada, c. 1997/98
Ink and mixed-media on paper
Signed by the artist
12.5"H & 10"W (sheet)
14.5"H 12"W (framed)
Very good condition.
Note: This work is from Dzama's first show in LA at Richard Heller Gallery in 1998, consisting of 500 drawings of this size and style.
