Shana: My Muse/Assemblage Works by Alexandra Zizmor features the mixed media works of Riverdale resident Alexandra Zizmor. Using paint, ink, collage, and found objects, the artist depicts a naively rendered Great Dane performing various activities in a minimal stage-like setting. These whimsical assemblages reference the modern art masters, fashion styles, and leisure time activities. Yet, a dead fly strategically placed on each work suggests a vanitas theme, as does the black knobbed frames, alluding to the Northern Renaissance painting tradition.

Zizmor’s chosen subject, her Great Dane, Shana, reflects the artist’s belief that of all animals, dogs most closely resemble their human counterparts in behaviors and attitude. She writes that she “draws inspiration from the spirit and joie de vivre of my Great Dane, Shana,” and that the personification of dogs grows more important “in an increasingly alienated society.”  Zizmor holds an M.A. in Connoisseurship of Twentieth Century Art from Christie’s. She is a self-taught artist who has been influenced by art brut, or outsider art. Her work reflects the blithe spirit she sees in her Great Dane, imbuing her pictures with a fanciful and lighthearted quality.