Eva Zuckerman employs the use of rough, undulating, expressive lines and a harsh, black and white palette to explore themes such as double identity, performance and sexuality in her paintings. With her broad, thick and almost aggressive brush strokes she creates complexity, meaning and a history around her subject matter with the simplest and most instinctual gestures.
Similar to Andy Warhol's Dance Diagrams, Zuckerman's work explores the concept of art-making as a hidden act or private dance which results in a record of genuine, tangible performance. In her "Wrestlers" series, this approach to art-making and production parallels the scripted and essentially performative quality of the work's actual subject matter: professional wrestling.
The expressive line used in Zuckerman's work draws focus to the physicality of creating the painting, as well as to the simplicity and strength of the action that is being depicted. Overly simplified lines and colors are meant to convey the almost savage-quality of the performances. The simple and large strokes create a scene, an action or a moment which is rooted in instinct rather than in training; motions guided by the physical rather than the intellectual self.
Regarding the wrestling series, Zuckerman states: "I try to use figurative work as a foundation to create abstract shapes and action in painting. The wrestlers interest me because of both their false (double) identity, and because of the intensity and violence of their behavior. They find freedom in the ability to put on a facade and create a highly dramatic and completely scripted moment of passion and violence. I see a connection between that and art making. There is something carnal and brutal to me about the simplicity of a rough black and white line. The line is more complex and meaningful when it depicts a performance with such inauthentic roots."
Eva received a BFA from Cooper Union in 2005.
