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Marcel Dzama — Die Freunde von Seminar und den Minotaurus
Marcel Dzama — Die Freunde von Seminar und den Minotaurus
Marcel Dzama

Die Freunde von Seminar und den Minotaurus

2015

Marcel Dzama's "Die Freunde von Seminar und den Minotaurus," created in 2015, unfolds across a repurposed piano scroll, a substrate that lends the work an immediate sense of ceremony and archaic ritual. Rendered in ink, gouache, and charcoal, the composition draws on Dzama's signature visual vocabulary, populating its surface with masked figures, mythological hybrids, and the looming presence of the Minotaur alongside companions who seem equally at home in a folkloric dream and a philosophical gathering. The aged, lined texture of the piano scroll activates the imagery with a kind of ghostly resonance, as though the figures have emerged from a score that could no longer be played. The work reflects Dzama's sustained engagement with European mythology, Surrealist theater, and the tension between civilization and primal instinct. The title, translating loosely to "The Friends of the Seminar and the Minotaur," suggests a meeting of minds presided over by a creature that defies rational order, a pairing that speaks to the artist's fascination with intellectual tradition colliding with the irrational and the monstrous. Dzama's palette here balances earthy, muted tones with precise graphic line work, creating a visual atmosphere that feels simultaneously antiquarian and unsettlingly contemporary. Measuring 118.4 by 94.9 centimeters, this is a substantial work within Dzama's output on found and unconventional supports, a practice that elevates his imagery beyond illustration into the realm of poetic object-making. Signed by the artist and currently held within Coleccion SOLO, the piece represents a mature expression of Dzama's ability to synthesize narrative complexity and formal invention into a single, arresting composition.

Medium
Ink, gouache and charcoal on piano scroll
Overall
Signed
Yes

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About this work

Marcel Dzama, Die Freunde von Seminar und den Minotaurus, 2015

Marcel Dzama's "Die Freunde von Seminar und den Minotaurus," created in 2015, unfolds across a repurposed piano scroll, a substrate that lends the work an immediate sense of ceremony and archaic ritual. Rendered in ink, gouache, and charcoal, the composition draws on Dzama's signature visual vocabulary, populating its surface with masked figures, mythological hybrids, and the looming presence of the Minotaur alongside companions who seem equally at home in a folkloric dream and a philosophical gathering. The aged, lined texture of the piano scroll activates the imagery with a kind of ghostly resonance, as though the figures have emerged from a score that could no longer be played. The work reflects Dzama's sustained engagement with European mythology, Surrealist theater, and the tension between civilization and primal instinct. The title, translating loosely to "The Friends of the Seminar and the Minotaur," suggests a meeting of minds presided over by a creature that defies rational order, a pairing that speaks to the artist's fascination with intellectual tradition colliding with the irrational and the monstrous. Dzama's palette here balances earthy, muted tones with precise graphic line work, creating a visual atmosphere that feels simultaneously antiquarian and unsettlingly contemporary. Measuring 118.4 by 94.9 centimeters, this is a substantial work within Dzama's output on found and unconventional supports, a practice that elevates his imagery beyond illustration into the realm of poetic object-making. Signed by the artist and currently held within Coleccion SOLO, the piece represents a mature expression of Dzama's ability to synthesize narrative complexity and formal invention into a single, arresting composition.

Medium
Ink, gouache and charcoal on piano scroll
Dimensions
overall: 118.4 x 94.9 cm
Year
2015
Signed
Hand-signed by the artist
Seen at
Coleccion SOLO

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Collected by

Gavin Kennedy