Details:
① Artwork:
Melatonin
Playing on forms reminiscent of petroglyphs (ancient, figure-filled rock carvings), this complex and dynamic composition is both surreal and primordial. This work explores the dichotomy between ancient and modern by implying classification systems for the visual motifs. In the language of scientific phenotypes, the artist catalogs facial expressions, tectonic shapes and totemic symbols—leaving viewers with endless variations on a theme, as perpetual and mutable as the universe itself.
This work is made through wax-resist dyeing, or batik—a technique the artist first learned as a 17-year-old. Like ceramics, batik is a decorative craft that evolved independently in civilizations around the globe. The artist layed down wax directly onto the canvas with a Tjanting, a pen-shaped tool used in batik to draw designs. This allowed Duncan to paint in a way that resembles drawing, before filling in fields of color in an intensive, layered process that defies the technical impulses of oil or acrylic.
Inspired by the evolution of human consciousness and the construction of reality through culture, Duncan's work negotiates the disconnection between physical and metaphysical consciousness. The artist's paintings depict a unique story of creation that draws from imagery found in ancient texts such as the Enuma Elis, the Popol Vuh, the Dogon, Lakota myths and the Bible. By weaving elements of ancient creation myths with texts on physics, metaphysics, astronomy, artificial intelligence and contemporary philosophy, Zhivago creates fantastical worlds—and his own distinctive mythology.
Specs:
③ Artist:
Inspired by the evolution of human consciousness and the construction of reality through culture, Zhivago Duncan’s work negotiates the disconnection between physical and metaphysical consciousness. The artist’s practice encompasses a wide range of media, including elaborate large-scale paintings, drawings, raku ceramic sculptures, kinetic dioramas and immersive installations. Duncan’s work creates fantastical worlds and his own distinctive creation myth that draws from imagery found in ancient texts as well as contemporary philosophical and scientific sources.
BIO:
Zhivago Duncan is a first-generation Syrian American. The artist received a BFA from the Chelsea College of Art and Design in London, UK.
Exhibitions of Duncan’s work have taken place at: the Museo Jumex in Mexico City, Mexico; Pioneer Works in Brooklyn, New York; Saatchi Gallery in London, UK; CULT Aimee Friberg in San Francisco, California; Fredric Snitzer Gallery in Berlin, Germany; Künstlerhaus Bethanien in Berlin, Germany; and the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo Querétaro in Querétaro City, Mexico; among others.
Duncan’s works are in the collections of: the Perez Art Museum in Miami, Florida; the Saatchi Collection in London, UK; the Barjeel Foundation in Sharjah, UAE; the Olbricht Collection in Berlin, Germany; and various private collections.
Solo exhibitions of Duncan’s work include: Measuring Consciousness at CULT Aimee Friberg in San Francisco, California (2022); Pretentious Crap at the Perez Art Museum Miami in Miami, Florida (2021); TULPA at Colector in Monterrey, Mexico (2021); Under the Volcano at Chic by Accident in Mexico City, Mexico (2020); Memetic Maps at the Museum of Contemporary Art Queretaro in Queretaro, Mexico (2020); SOULMATE/CELLMATE at Galleria Poggiali in Milan, Italy (2019); Beauty Blocked my View at Meem Gallery in Dubai, UAE (2018); Six Degrees of Separation at Galleria Poggiali in Pietrasanta, Italy (2016); Constant Interloper at Livingstone Gallery in The Hague, the Netherlands (2016), Never But Always at Meem Gallery in Dubai, UAE (2016); As the Jungle Weeps at JAMM in Dubai, UAE (2014); Futile at Fredric Snitzer Gallery in Miami, Florida (2012); Papillon at Galleria Poggiali e Forconi in Florence, Italy (2012); Dick Flash’ Souvenirs of Thought at Contemporary Fine Arts in Berlin, Germany (2011); The Beautiful and the Damned at The Cat Street Gallery in Hong Kong, China (2011); The Beautiful and the Damned at Cruise & Callas in Berlin, Germany (2010); Double Zap Robotrap—Exploration of the Unknown at Teapot Gallery in Cologne, Germany (2009); Untitled Crash at Artists Anonymous in London, UK (2007).
Group exhibitions that have shown Duncan’s work include: Physics & Fiction at CULT Aimee Friberg in San Francisco, California (2022); Normal Exceptions: Contemporary Art in Mexico at Museo Jumex in Mexico City, Mexico (2021); Para Empezar at 80M2 Livia Benavides in Lima, Peru (2020); Ngorongoro II at Artist Weekend in Berlin, Germany (2018); Animal, Man, Machine at Verbeke Foundation in Antwerp, Belgium (2017); My Abstract World, Me at Collectors Room in Berlin, Germany (2016); Faith & Fathom at Galleria Poggiali in Florence, Italy (2016); German Cool at Salsali Private Museum in Dubai, UAE (2016); Contemporary Art Exhibition of European Artists at Qingdao Sculpture Art Museum in Qingdao, China (2015); Ngorongoro at Artist Weekend in Berlin, Germany (2015); Early One Morning at Galleria Poggiali e Forconi in Pietrasanta, Italy (2013); 5X5 Unreal at Museo de Arte Acarigua Araure in Acarigua Araure, Venezuela (2012); Gesamtkunstwerk: New Art from German at Saatchi Gallery in London, UK (2011); DEAD_Lines. Der Tod in Kunst-Medien Alltag at Galerie, der Stadt Remscheid in cooperation with Von der Heydt-Museum in Wuppertal, Germany (2011); Ein Fest für Boris at Vittorio Manalese in Berlin, Germany (2010); In Fifteen Minutes Everyone will be Famous at Tape Modern in Berlin, Germany (2010); Out of Wedding at Uferhallen in Berlin, Germany (2009), No More Sugar for the Monkey at Stattbad in Berlin, Germany (2009); Lynch Mob at HBC & Kollektive in Berlin, Germany; Galerie Mittwoch at Kollektive in Berlin, Germany (2008); Tape Modern Number 02 at Tape Modern in Berlin, Germany (2008); Swag at Corsica Studios, London, UK (2006); MMDAW at Triangle space, Chelsea College of Art and Design in London, UK (2005).
Duncan lives and works in Mexico City, Mexico.
Playing on forms reminiscent of petroglyphs (ancient, figure-filled rock carvings), this complex and dynamic composition is both surreal and primordial. In the language of scientific phenotypes, the artist catalogs facial expressions, tectonic shapes and totemic symbols.More
- Unframed
- Signed
