Jeff Zilm

HAXON

2013
dye, silver halide, acrylic and gelatin emulsion, and optical sound on canvas
48 x 34 x 1 1/2 inches

Jeff Zilm makes paintings that take the physical properties of film stock as their starting point. For roughly fifteen years, Zilm has been collecting 8mm, 16mm, and 35mm films, which he uses as his base material. Using detergent, Zilm strips the emulsion off a film he’s collected, and then mixes the liquefied emulsion with acrylic paint. This compound is then sprayed and brushed onto canvas. Here, the title Haxon references the 1922 Swedish horror film Häxan from which the emulsion is extracted. The finished painting possesses a delicate chiaroscuro with subtly modulated blacks and grays. Jeff Zilm lives and works in Dallas. His work has been the subject of solo exhibitions at galleries around the world. He has shown his paintings and videos in a number of group shows at venues such as the Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston; the Dallas Museum of Art; and The Jewish Museum, New York.