Dzama wields an unparalleled visual vocabulary that reaches across eras, geographies, and cultures. In Wild Kindness alone, his references include but are in no way limited to Federico Garciá Lorca’s surrealist play Trip to the Moon, the cosmos, ballet, kitsch portraiture, artists like Marcel Duchamp and Francisco de Goya, and a 1998 album by the indie rock band Silver Jews, from which the exhibition draws its name. Such wide-ranging influences mirror the visual density of the works, which plunge viewers into the artist’s richly layered universe.
Wild Kindness continues through May 11 in Antwerp. Dzama also has works on view through June 9 in Kleinburg, Ontario, for his solo show Ghosts of Canoe Lake at McMichael Canadian Art Collection. Find more on Instagram.
“The Queen and her sister squares” (2022), wood, acrylic, and graphite in seven parts, 28 x 47 x 24.3 centimeters
“A Song for Nature’s Queen” (2024), pearlescent acrylic, ink, watercolor, and graphite on paper, 167.6 x 131.4 centimeters
“Bright starry eyes & bright starry skies” (2024), pearlescent acrylic, ink, watercolor, and graphite on paper, 132.5 x 89 centimeters
“The Chess Set” (2024), wood, acrylic, charcoal, and graphite, 25 x 62.4 x 62.4 centimteres
Installation view of “Infinity Moth” (2024), fabric, painted mannequin on rotating device, mask, costume designed by Marcel Dzama, made by Christian Joy, 202 x 132 x 42 centimeters
“In the sun we feel like one” (2023), pearlescent acrylic, ink, watercolor, and graphite on paper, 31 x 101 centimeters
“There are no waves, only ocean” (2024), pearlescent acrylic, ink, watercolor, graphite, and collage on paper, 22 x 31.2 centimeters
