A Game of Chess

source: worldchesshoforg

Dzama’s work draws from a diverse range of references and artistic influences, including Dada and Marcel Duchamp. His film features characters based on the classic game of chess. Dressed in geometrically designed costumes of papier-mâché, plaster, and fiberglass and wearing elaborate masks (including a quadruple-faced mask for the King), the figures dance across a checkered board to challenge their opponents in fatal interchanges.
Chess occupied a central role for the early twentieth-century avant-garde, who drew explicit analogies between the game (with its intricate balance between improvisation and predetermination) and artistic practice. Dzama is influenced by German Bauhaus artist Oskar Schlemmer, whose Triadic Ballet from 1922 included puppet-like, costumed, and masked figures dancing across a checkered surface. French film-maker René Clair and painter Francis Picabia were amongst other artists who integrated ballet and chess in their works from the 1920s, employing the special set of rules and moves of the game as metaphors for larger questions regarding free will, destiny, and technological determinism.
Both the filming and the creation of the costumes for A Game of Chess were carried out in Guadalajara, Mexico, and the influence of local crafts and religious traditions can be felt throughout this body of work. Notions of scapegoatism and resurrection blend with the timeless idea of rivalry represented by the game, and distinctions between reality and fiction ultimately become blurred as both costumed and “real-life” characters in the film are killed. In this way, the storyline recalls the Surrealist predilection for dream logic over conventional narrative form—epitomized by Luis Buñuel’s films from the late 1920s and early 1930s. However, Dzama still retains a strong sense of a plot, with subtle insinuations to contemporary life discernible throughout.
The exhibition also presents two rotating sculptures based on central characters in the film as well as new paintings created especially for this exhibition. Marcel Dzama: The End Game marks the first solo exhibition of Dzama’s work in the Midwest.
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source: artdailyorg

Dzama has become known for his prolific drawings, which are characterized by their distinctive palette of muted browns, grays, greens, and reds. In recent years, the artist has expanded his practice to encompass three-dimensional work and film and has developed an immediately recognizable language that draws from a diverse range of references and artistic influences, including Dada and Marcel Duchamp. Dzama’s film features characters based on the classic game of chess. Dressed in geometrically designed costumes of papier-mâché, plaster, and fiberglass and wearing elaborate masks (including a quadruple-faced mask for the King), the figures dance across a checkered board to challenge their opponents in fatal interchanges. Chess occupied a central role for the early twentieth-century avant-garde, who drew explicit analogies between the game (with its intricate balance between improvisation and predetermination) and artistic practice. Dzama is influenced by German Bauhaus artist Oskar Schlemmer, whose Triadic Ballet from 1922 included puppet-like, costumed, and mask-wearing figures dancing across a checkered surface. French film maker René Clair and painter Francis Picabia were amongst other artists who integrated ballet and chess in their works from the 1920s, employing the special set of rules and moves of the game as metaphors for larger questions regarding free will, destiny, and technological determinism. Both the filming and the creation of the costumes for A Game of Chess were carried out in Guadalajara, Mexico, and the influence of local crafts and religious traditions can be felt throughout this body of work. Notions of scapegoatism and resurrection blend with the timeless idea of rivalry represented by the game, and distinctions between reality and fiction ultimately become blurred as both costumed and “real-life” characters in the film are killed. The storyline in this way recalls the Surrealist predilection for dream logic over conventional narrative form—epitomized by Luis Buñuel’s films from the late 1920s and early 1930s. However, Dzama still retains a strong sense of a plot, with subtle insinuations to contemporary life discernible throughout. The exhibition also presents rotating sculptures based on central characters in the film, as well as a mechanized carousel with puppets made from tin and ceramics. Upon entering the exhibition, visitors first encounter Dzama’s drawings and a room of sculptures before reaching the film installation. This gradual, three-tiered transition from flat, wall-mounted works, via rotating sculptures, to moving images coincides with a shift from light, quiet spaces to the darkened area of the film with its accompanying acoustics. Further emphasizing this contrast, a mariachi band staged a live performance of music inspired by the film’s soundtrack on the exhibition’s opening night at selected times throughout its duration.
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source: davidzwirner

Marcel Dzama‘s work is characterized by an immediately recognizable visual language that draws from a diverse range of references and artistic influences, including Dada and Marcel Duchamp. While he has become known for his prolific drawings with their distinctive palette of muted colors, in recent years, the artist has expanded his practice to encompass sculpture, painting, film, and dioramas.

Dzama was born in 1974 in Winnipeg, Canada, where he received his B.F.A. from the University of Manitoba. Since 1998, his work has been represented by David Zwirner, where he has had six solo exhibitions with the gallery in New York. Puppets, Pawns, and Prophets marks his first solo show at David Zwirner, London, which is on view from April 6 to May 11, 2013. The exhibition will be accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue published by David Zwirner and Hatje Cantz, with an essay by Deborah Solomon.

In Fall 2013, a comprehensive monograph of Dzama’s work, produced and designed in collaboration with the artist, will be published by Abrams and will feature contributions by Bradley Bailey, Dave Eggers, Spike Jonze, and Raymond Pettibon.

Dzama has exhibited widely in the United States and internationally. In 2010, a major survey of the artist’s work was presented at the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal in Montreal, Canada. Other recent solo exhibitions include those organized by the Centro de Arte Contemporáneo de Málaga, Spain; Museo de Arte de Zapopan (MAZ), Zapopan, Mexico; World Chess Hall of Fame and Museum, St. Louis, Missouri (all 2012); Gemeentemuseum, The Hague; Kunstverein Braunschweig, Germany (both 2011); Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich (2008); Ikon Gallery, Birmingham, England (2006); and Le Magasin – Centre National d’Art Contemporain de Grenoble, France (2005).

Work by the artist is held in museum collections worldwide, including the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Dallas Museum of Art; Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal, Canada; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; The Museum of Modern Art, New York; National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; Tate Gallery, London; and the Vancouver Art Gallery. He lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.