said “we are all tormented with a desire to know a world which appears to us a dungeon. I feel as if I could not depart in peace out of this narrow sphere unless I endeavored to explore my prison. The more I examine it the more beautiful and extensive it becomes in my eyes.” Peering into the void, or examining things better left unexamined is the material of Zansky's work. One is reminded of Duchamp’s Precision Optic experiments… image making machines to demonstrate the idiocy of “retinal art.” Zansky takes it a step further by creating the device, and then focusing on objects reflective of life in the 21st century. Again Duchamp reminds; the only contributions America makes to culture are her bridges and plumbing.” In his most recent series, The Western Lands, Zansky uses digital, color photography as an end product. In contextualizing this new series, Kathleen Goncharov wrote in her essay for a solo show at Nicholas Robinson Gallery, Michael Zansky: The Western Lands, "The title of this exhibition, The Western Lands, refers to the western banks of the Nile, which in the determinist belief system of ancient Egyptian religion is the netherworld, The Land of the Dead. It is also the title of a 1987 William Burroughs' novel that explores the theme of death through a fantastic narrative, referencing Egyptian mythology, science fiction, occultism, hallucinogenic drugs magic, dreams, magic, vampires, and figures from popular culture. The bizarre confluence of characters and the utter strangeness of the novel are echoed in Zansky’s installations and photographs. Burroughs’ book and this exhibition are both counterpoints to the eternal and unchanging cosmos of the ancient Egyptian worldview. Zansky's visual universe is as uncertain and weird as the literary one Burroughs inhabits." He made paintings and wood carvings with texts by the Puerto Rican poet Giannina Braschi. Exhibitions Zansky's work has been shown widely at galleries and museums around the world including Barbara Gladstone Gallery, New York, NY 1978, White Columns, New York, NY 1985, 86 & 90, Albright Knox Gallery, Buffalo, NY 1986, Drawing Center, New York, NY 1988 and 2002, Calvin-Morris Gallery, New York, NY 1989, 1993, 1996, 1998 and 1999, Berry-Hill Galleries, New York, NY 1990, 1991, 1993 and 1996, Rockland Center for the Arts, West Nyack, NY 1994, 1996, 1998, 2003 and 2004, Detrusa Galerie, Madrid, Spain 1995, Hunterdon Museum, Clinton, NJ 1996, Exit Art, New York,