Marcel Dzama creates figurative drawings characterized by a muted palette. These works are populated by human figures, animals, hybrids placed against empty backgrounds, which sometimes include written texts. Caught in unlikely situations, Dzama’s characters are stripped of a specific narrative context, thus suggesting many possible interpretations. This cast of characters is expansive, yet the same figures often reappear, their roles becoming more complex and clearly defined from one work to the next. Dzama’s work draws on a variety of sources including native mythology, Inuit art, Dante’s Divine Comedy, medieval paintings, and American folklore, as well as the art of William Blake, Francisco de Goya, Sandro Botticelli, and James Ensor, among others.

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