In Alex Zak’s work, landscapes of leisure are understood as precarious, unstable environments. The imagery of decadence -- the touristic and the voyeuristic -- works to obscure a foundation built on colonial legacies and ecological collapse. In reframing such symbolism Alex shows how the fabricated aesthetics of pleasure are complicit in the decline that they obscure, exposing the fantasy and the fallacy in the idealized and homogenized.
Recent works such as Ship of Fools and Swamped use materiality as a means of furthering an exploration of these themes. In Ship of Fools massive snails have overrun a pool lounge chair, yet in a trompe l'oeil as gross as it is charming, their bodies are fabricated out of wet towels caked with sand. Here Alex orchestrates an experience both haptic and visceral: we can feel snail slime and damp terry cloth, can anticipate the languid humidity of summer in the subtropics. We see the symbols of leisure kitsch entwined with subtle, playful reminders that our fabricated ideals of decadence are impermanent, subject to forces both natural and supernatural.
Alex Zak (b. 1988) received both a BFA and a BAVCS from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (2012) and recently received his MFA from Yale School of Art (2020). He has exhibited in Chicago, New York City, New Haven, and Varanasi, India. Zak will be a Resident at Sculpture Space in Utica, NY during the Winter in 2021.
Alex Zak, Swamped, 2019
In the entry way of a building between the first floor and basement space, the materials in this work act as themselves but also simulate a blending of beach, office, and desert island landscapes. The work rests on the floor of the basement space.
The installation was visible from a number of vantage points both from inside and outside the building. On top of the post/tree like structure is a modified ceiling fan, with blades bent to look like palm fronds. The fan and light remained on through the duration the work was installed.
Small details throughout the installation include plaster cast shapes that resemble giant heart cockle shells painted grey, and mice made from sand and clay.
Alex Zak, Screen Saver, 2019 (part of the installation Swamped, 2019) TRT: 6:20