Untitled (Scrapbook)

Artist Marcel Dzama (Canadian, born 1974)

Date2004

DimensionsH: 11 in. (27.9 cm); W: 14 in. (35.6 cm)

MediumMixed media drawings (watercolor, ink, root beer, etc.) with collage elements affixed with transparent and duct tapes.

ClassificationDrawings

Credit LineFrederick B. and Kate L. Shoemaker Fund and Gift of Alice Roullier, by exchange

Object number

2004.48H

Not on View

Label TextIntimate and personal, amusing and bizarre, Marcel Dzama’s Scrapbook records a year in his life through drawings, newspaper clippings, stories, and collage. Dzama has gained critical and popular favor with his witty, appealing, and sometimes disturbing ink and watercolor drawings of figures distilled from fairy tales, comic books, advertising, and children’s stories. He turns his family and friends (including fellow members of Winnipeg artists’ collective Royal Art Lodge) into odd hybrids with animal heads or conjoined twins. “I make art primarily for myself and to show my friends,” Dzama explains, “so I guess it’s important to make art that they can connect to. I think the nostalgic feel adds an interesting element, it makes [the characters] seem somewhat familiar…” Scrapbook provides a fascinating look at Dzama’s influences and creative process; it also acts as a kind of cultural snapshot. Look carefully at the sheets and you can find testimonials from Dzama fans ranging from “Charlie Brown” creator Charles Schultz to Steve Martin, and from quirky postpunk band They Might Be Giants to Dave Eggers, author of A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius. ©copyright protectedExhibition HistoryDüsseldorf, Sies & Höke, Marcel Dzama paintings and drawings, April 30 - May 29, 2004, repr.(col.) pp.47 - 54 (unpaginated).