 Los Angeles

Empress of Night

Marcel Dzama

1-Up

Since rising to prominence in the late 1990s, 

 (b. 1974) has developed an immediately recognizable visual language that investigates human action and motivation, as well as the blurred relationship between the real and the subconscious. Drawing equally from folk vernacular as from art-historical and contemporary influences, Dzama’s work visualizes a universe of childhood fantasies and otherworldly fairy tales.

Dzama was born in Winnipeg, Canada, where he received his BFA in 1997 from the University of Manitoba. Since 1998, his work has been represented by David Zwirner. The artist has had fourteen solo exhibitions with the gallery. In 2016, the gallery held two exhibitions in New York and London dedicated to the collaborative works by Dzama and Raymond Pettibon. 

, which marked the artist’s first solo presentation in Greater China, was on view at the Hong Kong gallery in 2019. In 2020, David Zwirner Online presented 

, an online exhibition of Dzama’s work, and in July of the same year, 

 was featured at the gallery's Paris location. In 2021, 

 was presented at the gallery’s 69th Street location in New York and in 2022, David Zwirner London presented 

. Dzama's fifteenth solo exhibition with the gallery, 

, will open at David Zwirner Los Angeles in June 2025. 

Dzama has exhibited widely throughout the United States and abroad. 

 was on view at McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinburg, Ontario, in 2023 and traveled to Contemporary Calgary, Alberta, and the Plug In Institute of Contemporary Art, Winnipeg, through 2025. In 2022, a solo presentation of the artist's work, 

Marcel Dzama: Viviendo en el limbo y soñando con el paraíso

 was on view at the Museo de Arte de Zapopan (MAZ), Mexico. 

was on view in 2021 at the Savannah College of Art and Design Museum of Art, Georgia. Also in 2021, the Sara Hildén Art Museum in Tampere, Finland, presented an exhibition of the artist’s work entitled 

 a film and performance commissioned by Performa as part of 

 was presented at Galería Helga de Alvear in Madrid and 

 was shown at University of Michigan Museum of Art in Ann Arbor, Michigan. In 2017, La Casa Encendida in Madrid exhibited 

Une danse des bouffons (or A jester’s dance)

 was presented alongside related two- and three-dimensional work at the World Chess Hall of Fame in St. Louis. In 2010, a major survey of the artist's work was held at the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal.

Other solo exhibitions include those organized by Kunstmuseum Thun, Switzerland (2014); Galería Helga de Alvear, Madrid (2013); Centro de Arte Contemporáneo de Málaga, Spain; Museo de Arte de Zapopan (MAZ), Mexico; World Chess Hall of Fame and Museum, St. Louis (all 2012); Gemeentemuseum, The Hague; Kunstverein Braunschweig, Germany (both 2011); Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich (2008); Ikon Gallery, Birmingham, England (2006); and Le Magasin – Centre National d’Art Contemporain de Grenoble, France (2005).

In 2021, MTA Arts & Design unveiled a commissioned mosaic by the artist, 

, that is permanently on view at the Bedford Avenue Station in Brooklyn, New York.

In 2016, the artist created the costume and stage design for New York City Ballet’s 

, a performance based on Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale. Coinciding with the performance, Dzama also created an installation in the Promenade of the David H. Koch Theater as part of the New York City Ballet Art Series, titled 

The tension around which history is built

Works by the artist are held in significant institutional collections worldwide, including the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto; Art Institute of Chicago; Centre Pompidou, Paris; Dallas Museum of Art; Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal; Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; The Museum of Modern Art, New York; National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC; National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; Tate, United Kingdom; and the Vancouver Art Gallery. Dzama lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.

 at David Zwirner Los  Angeles (June 28–August 8). This richly illustrated, limited-edition publication features close‑up details of new and recent works—including ink, pearlescent-ink, watercolor, and graphite pieces—set among dense, dreamlike nightscapes.

With references to Francisco Goya and surrealist poet Federico García Lorca, among others, the zine explores parallels between historical periods of turmoil and our present moment, and touches on themes of ecological fragility and authoritarianism. With recurring figures like animals, dancing jesters, and celestial motifs, 

 captures Dzama’s nocturnal imagination and allegorical storytelling, offering a poetic and timely reflection of hope amid unrest.

Marcel Dzama: Empress of Night

David Zwirner is an art gallery with locations in New York, Los Angeles, London, Paris and Hong Kong. We present physical and online exhibitions, podcasts, books, and more.