Marcel Dzama: Crossing the Line

Marcel Dzama’s (b. 1974) work is characterized by an immediately recognizable visual language that draws from a diverse range of references and artistic influences, including Dada and Marcel Duchamp. While he has become known for his prolific drawings with their distinctive palette of muted colors, in recent years, the artist has expanded his practice to encompass sculpture, painting, film, and dioramas. Since the late 1990s, Dzama has exhibited widely in solo and group presentations throughout the United States and abroad. Laila Pedro is an editor, writer, scholar, and translator born in Havana and based in New York. She serves as editorial director of The Shed and was previously the managing editor at The Brooklyn Rail and Hyperallergic. Her writing has appeared in The Brooklyn Rail, The Feminist Wire, Hyperallergic, Idiom, The Miami Rail, and n+1, among other publications. Pedro is currently at work on a book about the artistic and literary connections between Cuba, France, and the Francophone Caribbean.