Dimensions: 350 x 280 mm
Copyright: © Marcel Dzama, courtesy of David Zwirner, New York | CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 DEED, Photo: Tate
Editor: This is an untitled watercolor by Marcel Dzama. I’m really struck by the figures playing instruments; it feels like they’re both human and not. What do you see in this piece? Curator: I'm drawn to the artist's process: the layering of watercolor and ink, the almost childlike application. Consider how this technique both elevates and demystifies the subject matter, blending the familiar with the surreal. It challenges our conventional notions of artistic labor and value, doesn't it? Editor: It does, it’s interesting to think about how these choices influence the final result. Curator: Precisely! It makes me consider the material reality behind artistic creation and the social forces influencing their production.
Comments
Join the conversation
Join millions of artists and users on Artera today and experience the ultimate creative platform.
This untitled drawing shows a band of four musicians performing. The lead singer’s brown head resembles a tree stump or root bole, with a forked branch extending upwards on one side. His features are human and his mouth is open in song while he strums on a slate-coloured miniature guitar with brown hands. Standing a little way behind him, his backing band comprises three figures wearing identical costumes: green A-line skirts the same shade as his short-sleeved sports shirt. The upper bodies of the backing musicians could be either male or female: curved lines on their chests hint at breasts, but the breadth of their shoulders suggests that these lines delineate well developed pectoral muscles. No upper garments have been indicated; their torsos are the same colour as their hands, legs and feet. Large grey blobs with crudely drawn features, all wearing similar expressions, provide heads that sit directly on the figure’s shoulders without necks, evoking masks. The band members play (from left to right): a freestanding drum, what looks like a large guitar hanging from the musician’s neck in a horizontal position, and a small brown guitar. Outlined in black ink and coloured with watercolour paint, the figures float on the neutral ground provided by the creamy Manila paper on which they are depicted, with no further clues as to the fragment of narrative evoked.
CollectMore like this
