Ink, watercolor, and root beer concentrate on twenty-five pieces of paper
Not on view
Dzama's narrative drawings fuse the visual language of fairy–tale illustrations with violent iconography like that of eighteenth–century artists Francisco de Goya and William Blake. His images show children, adults, animals, and uncanny hybrids, often involved in violent activities. Dzama's work has at times pointed to the cruelties connected to the contemporary conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Underground makes reference to the capture of Saddam Hussein, contrasting a long row of soldiers with the small hole in which Iraq's former leader stands. As is often the case with Dzama’s drawings, this watercolor asks viewers to question designations such as good and evil, liberator and oppressor, cost and benefit.
Compass in Hand: Selections from The Judith Rothschild Foundation Contemporary Drawings Collection, April 22, 2009–January 4, 2010.
Explore more
From MoMA Design Store
Installation views
We have identified this work in the following photos from our exhibition history.
Licensing
Artwork or archival images
If you would like to reproduce an image of a work of art in MoMA's collection, or an image of a MoMA publication or archival material (including installation views, checklists, and press releases), please contact Art Resource (publication in North America) or Scala Archives (publication in all other geographic locations).
Audio and film clips
MoMA licenses archival audio and select out of copyright film clips from our film collection. At this time, MoMA produced video cannot be licensed by MoMA/Scala. All requests to license archival audio or out of copyright film clips should be addressed to Scala Archives at [email protected]. Motion picture film stills cannot be licensed by MoMA/Scala. For access to motion picture film stills for research purposes, please contact the Film Study Center at [email protected]. For more information about film loans and our Circulating Film and Video Library, please visit Circulating Film and Video Library.
Text from a publication or the archives
If you would like to reproduce text from a MoMA publication, please email [email protected]. If you would like to publish text from MoMA's archival materials, please fill out this permission form and send to [email protected].
Feedback
This record is a work in progress. If you have additional information or spotted an error, please fill out this feedback form.