Arrivée du magicien (Arrival of the Magician)
Davor Vrankic
Croatian, born 1965
(1998-1999)
A graphite-on-paper drawing in which Davor Vrankic stages a grotesque, carnival-like ‘magician’—a partly masked, muscular figure studded with hooks, chains, and sutures—meant to confront and unsettle the viewer.
You first notice the unnervingly lifelike skin and deep tonal modeling as the sardonic face under a star-patterned hood nearly fills the foreground, while a metal halo, dangling implements, and a crowd of exaggerated onlookers press tight in the background to create a claustrophobic, theatrical tension.
Merging meticulous, academic draftsmanship with the carnivalesque and the grotesque, the work situates late-20th-century figurative drawing as a vehicle for probing performance, bodily transformation, and the spectacle of identity.
Medium
Graphite on paper
Dimensions
19 3/4 x 12 3/4" (50.2 x 32.4 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Gift of Jan Christiaan Braun and Jo Carole and Ronald S. Lauder
Accession
2461.2001.9
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
