Zhivago Duncan is a contemporary artist currently based in

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

. His works range from paintings,

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

and

mixed media In visual art, mixed media describes artwork in which more than one medium or material has been employed. Assemblages, collages, and sculpture are three common examples of art using different media. Materials used to create mixed media art incl ...

to substantial installations including complex, mesmeric mechanical fantasies.

Early years

Born in

Terre Haute, Indiana Terre Haute ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Vigo County, Indiana, United States, about 5 miles east of the state's western border with Illinois. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 60,785 and its metropolitan area had a ...

in 1980, son of Michael Duncan and Sadie Duncan. His life has been itinerant, and he has lived in many different countries including the US, UK,

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

, France, and Germany. Zhivago speaks six languages fluently.

Education

He studied at the

Chelsea School of Art Chelsea College of Arts is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London based in London, United Kingdom, and is a leading British art and design institution with an international reputation. It offers further and higher educat ...

, London, graduating in 2007.

Collections

Collections include the

Saatchi Gallery The Saatchi Gallery is a London gallery for contemporary art and an independent charity opened by Charles Saatchi in 1985. Exhibitions which drew upon the collection of Charles Saatchi, starting with US artists and minimalism, moving to the D ...

, where he has exhibited in the major ''Gesamtkuntswerk'' exhibition of new art from Germany. Zhivago has also exhibited in the UK and Germany. He has an unabashed approach to his work and colleagues. On a recent approach to Bruno Brunett, director of leading Berlin gallery Contemporary Fine Arts at an art fair the artist introduced himself with "I’m Zhivago Duncan. Someone told me you’re the only man with the balls to sell my work."

Gallery

According to the Saatchi gallery, one of the world's leading collections of

modern art Modern art includes artistic work produced during the period extending roughly from the 1860s to the 1970s, and denotes the styles and philosophies of the art produced during that era. The term is usually associated with art in which the tradi ...

, "through his sprawling, messy multimedia artworks, Zhivago Duncan comments on the state of contemporary culture and its obsessions, crassly quoted and re-created from an irreversibly apocalyptic future point of view". Zhivago himself comments: "my work provides a close examination of our society’s excessive infatuation with glamour, fortune, and fame." His work is not one-dimensional, however. According to the Cat Street Gallery, "rather than existing solely as a contemporary commentator, Zhivago also brings an element of historical voyeurism to his pieces, even sometimes nostalgia. Whether expressive silk-screened portraits of celebrities long forgotten or sculptural remnants of abandoned muscle cars, his aesthetic of damage and tarnish pays homage to the countless icons that have been lost in the depths of time."

Personal

Zhivago's multi-faceted character is reflected in his habitation of a variety of creative alter egos who inspire and create his work. One of these was "Nacnud Ogavihz" a reversal of the label of his own identity. In 2010-11 his works consisted of paintings and installations created by "Dick Flash". Dick Flash's work is "the result of the imaginary journey of Dick Flash, the world’s sole survivor of the apocalypse according to him and his legacy. Semi-amnesiac, Dick Flash roams the converted world digging up the fruitful remains of his debauched ancestors."

References

External links

Artist Zhivago Duncan Gives INTERVIEW 15 Minutes of Fame, Interview Magazine, December 17, 2009

* ttps://www.artsy.net/artist/zhivago-duncan Zhivago Duncan, Artsy.net
Zhivago Duncan, Saatchi Gallery

Zhivago Duncan: Pretentious Crap, Perez Art Museum Miami
{{DEFAULTSORT:Duncan, Zhivago American artists Living people Year of birth missing (living people)