Jorge Queiroz / Etienne Zack 4 May - 1 Jun 2006 11 Duke Street, St James's

The Directors of Thomas Dane are pleased to announce an exhibition of new works by Portuguese draughtsman, Jorge Queiroz and Canadian painter, Etienne Zack.

Etienne Zack's inspirations lie in captured memories of urban landscape and the clutter of the artist's studio. In his compositions of urban decay, man-made structures are given an almost sculptural prominence that lends an abstract and even surreal quality to his work. The depictions of these constructions are often reproductions of models made by Zack that he later destroys, adding a playful juxtaposition to the bleakly sparse urban landscapes.

In many of these works, the viewer is reminded of the artist's presence. Scenes from the artist's studio are frequently embellished with humorous references to contemporary art historical and critical debates. Using iconic symbols of 'the artist', and specifically 'the painter' as centre pieces (paint, brushes theoretical books and canvases), Zack focuses the viewers' attention on the physical act of painting and the painter's relationship with his audience. Living in Vancouver, a city in which photography dominates the cultural scene, Zack uses the isolation of the painter as a motif.

While Zack's images are not quite real, they are nonetheless rooted in the everyday. Jorge Queiroz's drawings, however, depict the inexplicable and indefinable worlds of dreams. His drawings are representations of the subconscious whose complexity can rarely achieve a verbal replication. Generally large in format, Queiroz's works demonstrate his experimentation with numerous techniques of draughtsmanship in an intense exploration of his chosen medium.

In the intricate layers of his drawings, can be the found the suggestion of a narrative that is unlikely to ever materialise. Through the graceful relationship between featureless face, abstract limb and interjections of an irreverent, vibrant, colour, Queiroz recaptures the lyrical fluidity of a dreamlike state.

In their work, Queiroz and Zack explore the idiosyncratic nature of their respective situations; a sense of isolation and a pursuit of a very private world. Both artists playfully hover between the surreal and the real, acutely aware of their own art practice and their place in its history.

Etienne Zack was born in Montreal in 1976 and currently lives and works in Vancouver. His recent exhibitions include According to this, at the Bergen Kunsthall, Norway earlier this year and East International, Norwich, 2004. Born in Lisbon in 1966, Jorge Queiroz is currently based in Berlin where he recently undertook a residency at the Künstlerhaus Bethanien. Queiroz exhibited at the Venice Biennale in 2003 and the 26th Saó Paulo Biennial in 2004. He currently has a solo show, What Paper Can Support at Oldenburg and is exhibiting at the 4th Berlin Biennale. Forthcoming projects include an exhibition at Museum Serralves, Porto in 2007