A Marcel Dzama exhibition is a like a film production. There are many moving parts and presentations to consider in each show. For Empress of the Night, his new solo show at David Zwirner in Los Angeles, there is a feeling of dancing in a ritual to the moon, night paintings and drawings really. It's not that they feel forbidden, but just of the night. That Dzama makes these works in his nocturnal working style makes sense. And of course, there is this: "A centerpiece of the exhibition is Dzama’s 2023 film To live on the Moon (For Lorca), which was originally commissioned by Performa for that year’s iteration of the recurring performance festival in New York. For this presentation, the film is projected at a large scale within the main gallery, where a viewing area invites visitors to linger and engage with the work at their own pace. Select drawings adorn the walls, dramatically illuminated to echo the film’s lyrical and hypnotic tone." The hum is of the night, a sort of fantastical half-dream, and the results are magic. —Evan Pricco
The Magic of Marcel Dzama in "Empress of Night"




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