Marcel Dzama

A resident of a suburban dystopia tries to reassemble his fragmented memories of life as a teen.

In this Dadaist love story there are many recurring themes: death and rebirth, multiple identities and doppelgangers, false prophets, love and love lost, the corruption of power and fragility of what is real or true. Using a recreation of Marcel Duchamp's Etant Donnes, a trickster of old mythology awakens Maria Martins (played by Kim Gordon) from the dream state. She learns that her lover, a captive Marcel Duchamp, has been kidnapped by a group of terrorists and forced to recite the chess moves to a historical match. Maria must enter a deep and strange rabbit hole to save her love.

The newest film by Marcel Dzama, "A Game of Chess," debuts at David Zwirner in New York, and is on view in the artist's solo exhibition "Marcel Dzama: Behind Every Curtain". Alongside the film, the exhibition also features related drawings, sculptures, and dioramas. An exhibition catalogue, designed in collaboration with the artist in the format of a small sketchbook, is being published by the gallery on the occasion of the show, and includes storyboards and film and production stills from the making of the film.