The works in Partition consider the physicality of language and use that to demonstrate how text and written information can be made into architectural or sculptural bodies. By combining various materials and histories, Zack’s paintings raise very pertinent questions about written histories, enlightenment, censorship, erasure, authorship, data storage, control, and collective knowledge.
Etienne Zack is one of today’s artists who are truly pushing the envelope in terms of painting concept; his process is entirely based on reading and taking notes – no visual source material is used. His process of making paintings relates to notions concerning the various ways history itself is manipulated and “worked out”. Zack’s work often focuses on the context in which artworks are produced and exhibited, and the physical and conceptual tools that go into creating them: the studio, art gallery, painter’s materials, and historical and theoretical reference works. Both poetic and playful, Zack’s painting prompts us to re-examine the everyday world around us.