NY: Rochester

WHERE: Memorial Art Gallery.

WHEN: Through January 24, 2016.

Une Une Danse des Bouffons (A Jester’s Dance)

The silent, black-and-white video work by Canadian artist Marcel Dzama, which is repeated twice over 35 minutes with slight variations, is a fictionalized account of the ill-fated affair between Dada artist Marcel Duchamp and Brazilian sculptor Maria Martins. Dzama conceived of Une Danse des Bouffons as an homage to horror filmmaker David Cronenberg, and instills it with art historical references to the work of Duchamp, Francisco Goya, Francis Picabia and Joseph Beuys, among others. The result is a dark, bizarre world of fantasy, desire, fear and trauma inspired by horror films, Surrealism, experimental art, and theater and costume design of the early 20th century.

Trailer –  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBa6jlbw4ik.

About

Marcel Dzama was born in Winnipeg, the son of a baker and a nurse, Marcel Dzama was a dyslexic youngster for whom reading was a struggle, however he took refuge in near-constant drawing.

     As an art student at the University of Manitoba, Dzama co-founded The Royal Arts Lodge, “a collective for mildly dysfunctional, highly imaginative people who liked to draw.” Responding to influences ranging from comic books to Inuit art and from William Blake to Marcel Duchamp, he began experimenting with sculpture, ceramics, painting, film, dioramas and puppets.

     Artist Dzama lives and works in Brooklyn, New York, where he is represented in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, the National Gallery of Canada, the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art, the Guggenheim Museum, and the Tate, among others. His work is avidly collected by private individuals as well, including Brad Pitt, Gus Van Sant, Jim Carrey and Nicholas Cage. In addition, Dzama has designed album covers for They Might Be Giants and Beck and provided art direction for The Suburbs, a short film by Canadian indie band Arcade Fire.