Meridians Art Basel Miami Beach

Almine Rech is pleased to present The Journey through the Tehom, 2022, from the Essential Figures series, by California-based artist, Zio Ziegler. The Essential Figures series comprises large-format, mural-sized paintings in which monumental amorphous figures are set in motion. Using primarily oil-stick, Ziegler works with textures that fuse the raw oil pigment with external materials such as sand, soil, and pumice.

His sources of inspiration, though ever-changing, include early 20th-century abstraction, Italian Futurism, and Cubism, and call to mind the likes of Francis Bacon, Kazimir Malevich, and Constantin Brâncuși. Just as Ziegler's inspiration derives from various cultures, his work aims to speak to societies across the world, serving as “open hieroglyphics,” through which viewers can project their identities. This year’s presentation demonstrates Ziegler’s enduring practice of depicting amorphous forms and detailed primitive patterns.