Marcel Dzama in New York

New York—At a press walkthrough last week before the opening of his new show at David Zwirner gallery, on view through April 19, Marcel Dzama said that he keeps strange hours, often waking up around sunset. There is a magical quality to the light at that time of day, especially when it’s the first light you see, he explained, and something of the enchantment of nightfall, with its invitation to wistful reverie and undercurrent of foreboding, may help us understand the artist’s strange and fascinating work.

“Even the Ghost of the Past” is Dzama’s fifth show at David Zwirner. The 30-something Canadian artist is best known for imaginative ink-and-watercolor drawings of humans, animals, and fantastical hybrid creatures, and 15 of these appear here, along with a display of related sketchbook pages. In addition, there are six dioramas, a sculpture, and a silent black-and-white film accompanied by live piano. From medium to medium, the work is consistent in sensibility — informed by jazz-era nostalgia, childhood fairy tales, and hints of violence and sexual perversion.

These three strands converge most effectively in the artist’s drawings and dioramas, where cabaret dancers and bowler-hatted gentlemen, skateboarders and hooded terrorists, and absurd monsters like a baseball bat–wielding, young child–abducting stuffed bear freely interact. The pleasure in Dzama’s imagery comes from both its dark whimsy (a large camera obscura–like contraption that doubles as a gallows; a hunting party firing into a sky of bats, bulls, cats, and flower buds) and fierce intelligence (references to Duchamp and Picabia; skillful evocations of early-20th-century photomontage and film). Add it all together and you get a 21st-century surrealism that’s smart and twisted, humorous, dreamlike, and utterly seductive.

Here are Dzama's picks for shows to see this weekend in New York.

1. Francis Alÿs: Fabiola at the Hispanic Society of America (presented by the Dia Art Foundation), through April 6

"While I know that this show has been chosen for this column before I must insist that it be my choice as well. For me, it's the best show I’ve seen all year, so I cannot imagine not including it. A show of nearly 300 works depicting Saint Fabiola from the personal collection of Francis Alÿs is visually stunning with its various hues of red placed against dark wood walls in three small rooms. Hung salon style, the unevenly sized portraits are arresting. From what I understand, Fabiola is so revered because she represented the common woman. Her profile portrait is so commonly copied that Alÿs was able to amass this substantial collection (which is ever growing, I am sure), culling canvasses from various flea markets and thrift shops throughout Europe and the Americas. The different textures, colors, sizes, and levels of accuracy in each portrait lend an undeniable specialness to the exhibit."

2. Gustave Courbet at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, through May 18

"A friend of mine saw this show in Paris and gave me a postcard of one of the self-portraits, called The Desperate Man. I tacked the postcard to the top of a small box on my desk and was faced with this image every time I sat down to draw. What really strikes me about this work is that even though Courbet died in 1877, his works still resonate very strongly today. Image after image is painted with such purpose. He was a realist painter who was raised by an affluent farm family from the French countryside. He was talented enough that he could have painted portraits for wealthy patrons for the rest of his life but instead chose to portray what he considered to be a pursuit of truth, which translated to greater social issues and overt sexuality. He famously painted The Origin of the World, a close-up of a woman's genitalia that proved shocking to the bourgeoisie. That work and another of two women languishing and embracing in a bed together, Sleep, were publicly banned, further fueling Courbet's notoriety. All of these great works are on view at the Met combined with other equally beautiful masterpieces."

3. Dave Miko at Wallspace, through March 29

"Walking into this gallery, my eye was immediately drawn to a copper-color painting called Perfume Bottles, which had neatly arranged symbols floating on the aluminum backdrop, not unlike some of the works of Forrest Bess or Paul Thek. Miko seems to take these influences and knowingly subvert them with words, symbols, and color improvisation. Around the corner from this piece is the largest painting in the show, a work that playfully deceives the viewer's perception of space within the gallery. Also on view are beautifully handcrafted furniture pieces titled 'Archives' that house drawers which are actually 8-by-8-inch paintings. Each 'Archive' has one 'drawer' hung just above the cabinet. It's a really beautiful and original idea."

4. Cai Guo-Qiang: I Want to Believe at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, through May 28

"Having been a fan of Cai’s gunpowder canvasses for a while, I've been waiting to see this show for a long time now and it doesn't disappoint. I love the spontaneity and joy I feel from the artist when I view these works. They are made in a rather masculine way but come across as entirely playful. A lot of this work seems to rely on luck and happy mistakes, which is exciting. Six cars suspended from the roof of Guggenheim tumble in mid explosion (fiber-optic light emits from them, causing the effect). I don't want to give too much away because it's something that should be seen in person."

5. Luc Tuymans: Forever, the Management of Magic at David Zwirner, through March 22

"What can I say about Tuymans that hasn't already been said? He is definitely the painter my generation is most influenced by, and seeing his works up close, you can understand why. This show was based around the mythology surrounding Disney as a spiritual utopian and creator of magic. The palette in this show is more of an icy purple than green, which might have something to do with the fact that Walt Disney is reportedly frozen in cryogenics — I'm not sure. Tuymans's ideas explore a critique of Disney as a fairytale paradigm. These impressive canvasses are simultaneously mysterious and beautiful."