The best group shows have a way of drawing connections between different artists’ work. In that regard, David Zwirner has gone above and beyond with “Marcel Dzama and Richard Pettibon: Forgetting the Hand,” currently on view in New York.
The show is a complete collaboration between the two artists—a series of drawings and collages created exquisite corpse style, with Pettibon and Dzama completing each other’s work seamlessly.
artnet News spoke with David Zwirner Books editor Lucas Zwirner, who initially urged the two artists to team up.
“Raymond brought like 92 unfinished drawings to the gallery space, and essentially handed them off to Marcel,” Zwirner recalled.
The resulting drawings became a zine produced for the New York Art Book Fair in 2015, where it was an immediate hit. “We sold all 200 copies in like, an hour and a half or something,” said Zwirner.
Prior to the opening, Pettibon and Dzama came together at the gallery, creating an additional 35 works. Zwirner described the resulting sketches as “loose and quick and very present,” noting that “they were really excited at the opportunity to do something that was less premeditated.”
Though each artist’s signature style can be spotted throughout the exhibition, the pair have fully embraced the collaborative process, creating an entirely new body of work that assimilates both of their visions.
The show is accompanied by a second printing of the zine, which has been revised and expanded for the occasion.
“Marcel Dzama and Richard Pettibon: Forgetting the Hand” is on view at David Zwirner, 533 West 19th Street, New York, January 14–February 20, 2016.