
Marcel Dzama
Dance Date, 2001

With his unmistakable version of contemporary Surrealism, Marcel Dzama is one of the most …

Often compared to outsider artist Henry Darger, Marcel Dzama’s small ink and watercolor drawings of hybrid characters, like humans with antlers or trees with hands, resemble story illustrations. Interspersed with a range of references including Surrealist film, Dadaism and Soviet-era agitprop, his work more often recalls folk and craft storytelling traditions, showing that simple narrative can be an intricate, compelling contemporary art-making strategy. Dzama also works in sculpture and video and has experimented with puppetry and costumes. His work has been used on the covers of a number of music albums for bands such as They Might Be Giants, Beck, and The Weakerthans; and his costume designs have been seen in music videos, including the video for the Bob Dylan’s When the Deal Goes Down.


With his unmistakable version of contemporary Surrealism, Marcel Dzama is one of the most successful contemporary Canadian artists. Born in Winnipeg in 1974, Dzama had an international reputation by the time he was 30.
In the 1990’s, as one of the members of the Royal Art Lodge, Dzama contributed to the renaissance of …

Often compared to outsider artist Henry Darger, Marcel Dzama’s small ink and watercolor drawings of hybrid characters, like humans with antlers or trees with hands, resemble story illustrations. Interspersed with a range of references including Surrealist film, Dadaism and Soviet-era agitprop, his work more often recalls folk and craft storytelling traditions, showing that simple narrative can be an intricate, compelling contemporary art-making strategy. Dzama also works in sculpture and video and has experimented with puppetry and costumes. His work has been used on the covers of a number of music albums for bands such as They Might Be Giants, Beck, and The Weakerthans; and his costume designs have been seen in music videos, including the video for the Bob Dylan’s When the Deal Goes Down.